Gotei 13
by Mrfipp
Summary: One-Hundred years after the Winter War, after Aizen's defeat, the Gotei 13 gather. Requests for one-shots are welcomed.
1. Gotei 13

-1Fipp: I have no real plot for this, just various drabbles and such relating to the new members. Request are welcome you know.

The captain-commander stood in his place of the Captain's Meeting Room of the First Division, and his vice-captain, Sasakibe Chojiro, stood to his left.

After the retirement of the previous captain-commander, his replacement had decided that during the weekly captain's meeting, to include each division's vice-captains as well. The reason for this was to prevent squads who's captains were unable to attend would be kept up-to-date. He had come up with this idea when he thought about how chaotic squads 3, 5 and 9 were after the captains had defected, the 5th especially due to its vice-captain in a coma.

He looked around the room, seeing only a few captains and vice-captains.

Soifon and Omaeda Marechiyo of Squad 2 had arrived, the former standing silently, while her much larger vice-captain snacked on a box of rice crackers.

Kuchiki Byakuya stood by himself, his current vice-captain late.

Komamura Sanji and Tetsuzaemon Iba of Squad 7 stood in their spot, engaged in idle conversation.

Ise Nanao, the vice-captain of Squad 8, stood alone in her spot, reading the large book that she always carried with her.

And lastly Kurotsuchi Mayuri and his vice-captain Nemu stood in their spot, patiently waiting for the meeting to start.

The captain-commander then heard the sound of arguing outside the large door, they were forced open and inside stepped the captain and vice-captain of Squad 11.

"Why did you have to hit me so hard!" growled the bald vice captain, Madarame Ikkaku, as he rubbed the large bruise oh his head,

"That is what you get for questioning my sense of direction," replied the pink-haired captain, Kusajishi Yachiru.

After the death of Zaraki Kenpachi, Squad Eleven had been in a wreck, and was barely worked properly. They had managed to find a replacement for Zaraki, but that did not…work well. And eventually Yachiru had become captain, and promoted Ikkaku to vice-captain, and Ayasegawa Yumichika to rank of third seat.

"Perhaps you should have taken your time in getting here," Kurotsuchi Mayuri said. "It is not like your presence here makes much of a difference."

"What was that?" Yachiru asked the captain of the 12th. Much like her mentor, the rookie of the current captains held Mayuri in low disregard.

"You want to start something!" Ikkaku yelled, ready for battle.

"As if I would waste my time with such barbaric individuals." Mayuri waved them off, only angering their tempers.

"Could we please not have any sort of arguments?" said a voice from the door, causing Yachiru and Mayuri to turn to it.

Walking through the door were the captain and vice-captain of Squad 4, Neliel Tu Oderschvank and Inoue Orihime.

It had been at least a century since the Winter War, and since then several odd additions had been made to the Gotei 13: Humans and Arrancar.

Inoue had started in the 4th, and her healing abilities allowed her to quickly rise in rank, and effortlessly taking the position of vice-captain when Kotetsu Isane had been transferred to the Kido Corps.

Neliel had at first become the third seat of the 5th, though she had spent much of her time at the 4th, in either in her free time, or per orders from her captain. When Unohana Retsu retired, Neliel had taken her place, and had moved her brothers, Pesche Guatiche Dondochakka Bilstin, to the spot of third seat.

"Oh, hey Nel, Jiggles," Yachiru said, the tension between her and Mayuri instantly dissolving. "How've you guys been?"

"Not too bad," Nel said.

"We've been excellent Yachiru-chan," Inoue said happily. "How about you?"

Ikkaku sighed, he was really looking forward to a fight with the most tenured captain. He trudged back to his spot to get away from the girl talk.

The large doors opened again, this time showing in the representatives of Squads 3 and 9 walk in.

After the defections of Ichimaru and Tousen, their vice-captains, Hisagi Shuhei and Kira Izuru, had managed well without a captain to lead their divisions. Throughout the years, through hard work and mastering their zanpaktous, they each had managed to learn Bankai, and dawned the captain's cloaks.

Sado Yasutora when he came to Soul Society, had originally been the third seat of Squad 8, under Kyoraku Shunsui. Shortly before Kyoraku retired, Sado had transferred to the 9th for the position of vice-captain. Much like other members of the 9th, Sado wore his uniform with no sleeves, and wore his vice-captains badge loosely around his neck, the reason for this was because it would rip off his arm when he would summon his armor into battle.

Ironically, the Quincy, Ishida Uryu, had also joined the Gotei 13, and later rose to the position of vice-captain for Squad 3. Though he worked with Shinigami, Ishida had told many that he only worked with them out of necessity, and nothing more, though several of his closer friend had suspected differently. The Quincy had done large amount of redesigning to his uniform, tailoring the sleeves and pants legs of his Shinigami clothes so that they were more formfitting, and he wore a long jinbaori, similarly to Sasakibe.

"Looks like there are still some people missing," Ishida said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Typical."

"Where do you think the others are?" Hisagi asked as he and Sado took to their spot.

Hisagi's question was partially answered when the doors burst open again, revealing the captain and vice-captain of Squad 10.

"Knew we wouldn't be late!" the captain said cheerfully.

"And late again," the captain-commander said to the captain. "Were you drinking again Matsumoto?"

"What!?" gasped the blonde-haired captain of Squad 10. "Of course not! I'm much more responsible then you give me credit for!"

"Mosqueda?" he asked.

"Hai sir," the former Privaron Espada, now Squad 10 vice-captain said.

Shortly after learning Bankai, Matsumoto had been promoted to captain. While she was happy at first for this, she instantly regretted this due to the paperwork that she, as captain, had to do.

Her vice-captain, Gantenbainne Mosqueda, at one point had been an Espada under the command of Aizen, but had switched sides to the Shinigami, as a sign of gratitude towards Sado for sparing his life during the raid on Las Noches long ago.

"We're still missing six people," Komamura said.

"Could we just get on with this already?" Mayuri said. "I have very important tasks to attend too."

"No," Byakuya said. "In order for the meeting to commence, all captains and vice-captains must be present."

"That still doesn't change that they are late," Soifon said.

"I wonder where they are?" Nanao asked, wonder where her current captain was. Then as if Fate itself was answering her, the door exploded open, and the three remaining captains tumbled in.

"I got here before you!" one of the captains jumped up and pointed at the two on the floor.

"What was that Kurosaki!" one of the other captains yelled.

"No way! I beat both of you!" the other captain yelled.

"What!?" Kurosaki Ichigo, captain of Squad 5 said. "Renji, Grimmjow, the two of you are idiots if you think that."

"Idiots!?" Abarai Renji, captain of Squad 8 yelled.

"I'm gonna kill ya Kurosaki!" yelled Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, captain of Squad 13.

Many years after the Winter War, Kurosaki Ichigo was able to become the captain of Squad 5, and brought Nel and her brothers into the third and fifth seat, before their promotions and transfers to the 4th.

Abarai Renji, despite the fact he had obtained Bankai, had not wished to become captain right away. After many years, when Kyoraku retired, Renji challenged Byakuya to another duel, and if he was the winner, he would try for captaincy. The match was impressive, leaving both combatants unable to stand in the end, though Byakuya fell several moments before Renji did.

Jeagerjaques Grimmjow, also a former Espada under Aizen, had at first joined under Squad 11, as its fourth seat, despite the fact he was on par with its then captain Kenpachi. After the retirement of Ukitake Jyuushiro, Grimmjow had chosen to take part in the captain's exam, and indeed passed.

"Like I'm gonna let my ass get handed to me by some overgrown house cat!" Ichigo yelled, causing Renji to laugh. "Same for you Baboon!"

"What!" Renji yelled.

The three of them made to attack each other, but where unable to act on this.

BAM!!!

The three captains fell to the ground, each one with a large bruise on their head.

"Can you three be bigger idiots then you already are?" said the vice-captain Kuchiki Rukia of Squad 13. "For god's sake, you're captains, act like ones!"

"I don't think you had to hit them that hard Rukia-san," said a meek voice from the hallway, moments later, Squad 5 vice-captain, Hinamori Momo walked in.

"I say you should have let them duke it out," said the mischievous voice of Squad 6 vice-captain, Aki(1) Senna.

Shortly after the Winter War, Byakuya, who had prevented the promotion of his younger sister, had allowed Ukitake to give Rukia a seat position he thought she deserved, and he did this, along with a vice-captain's badge. She, along with Hinamori and Ikkaku, were the only vice-captains capable of using Bankai.

The captain-commander wasn't entirely sure about how Senna came to be. It started one day where most of Soul Society had been affected by a headache, Ichigo's had been so intense that he had passed out in the middle of a captain's meeting, then several days later Senna appeared at the east gate. Mayuri had come up with an explanation, one that he himself did not fully understand, though he understood that the headaches were the memories of Senna, and everything related to her returning, and all he understood was that there were several repercussions to her revival, but Ichigo had managed to deal with them, and shortly later Senna became the vice-captain of the 6th.

"Are we getting into a fight?" Yachiru asked, forgetting about her conversation with Nel and Inoue. "Can I join?"

"Me too!" Ikkaku yelled out.

"Can we not get into a fight? We are not here for that," said Nel, ever the pacifist.

"Just let the savages fight amongst themselves," Mayuri said. "Why don't you join in?" he asked Komamura.

"What was that?" the large captain growled.

"Want to join in Byakushi?" Yachiru asked.

"I refuse to get involved in such a meaningless squabble," Byakuya replied coolly.

"You can be a real stick in the mud, huh taichou?" Senna asked.

It was at this moment that Grimmjow punched Ichigo in the stomach, causing a domino effect which soon sucked in every person in the room into a large argument.

The captain-commander could swear, sometimes he felt like he was in charge of a bunch of children!

"Shut up!" he yelled, releasing a surge or spiritual pressure, causing each captain and vice-captain to freeze in mid-sentence. "Now everyone, get into your spots, and let the meeting commence."

They all nodded, and trudged to their respective spots.

He sighed, how the hell did Yamamoto do this for two-thousand years?

000

The captain-commander walked down the halls of the 1st Division, tired from the meeting.

"You're lucky your hair's already white." He turned around to see Hinamori walking up to him. "Otherwise it'd be much more noticeable when your hair went prematurely white from the stress, huh Shiro-chan?"

"For the last time," said Hitsugaya, captain of Squad 1, and leader of the Gotei 13. "It's Hitsugaya-soutaichou."

(1) Aki means 'autumn' in Japanese. I thought it fit Senna well.


	2. Kurosaki Taichou

-1Fipp: This takes place just before Ichigo's inauguration into the captain of the 5th, so at the moment, the Gotei 13 ranks are similar to what they are now.

Once again, this story is open for suggestions.

Kurosaki-Taichou

It was a wonderful say in the Sereitei, the weather was warm and sunny, as normal, and it was most likely that a new captain would be added to the Gotei 13. There were high hopes for Kurosaki Ichigo to pass his Captain's Exam and become the new leader of Squad 5, including Ichigo himself, who had been unable to get much sleep due to these thoughts running through his head. Until he had found a permanent residence, he had been allowed to stay at the Kuchiki manor, to Rukia's delight, and to Byakuya's dismay. He had managed only to get a few hours of sleep, only to have it interrupted, by the possibility of death!

"GOOD MORNING ICHIIIGGOOOOOO!" yelled a loud voice.

On reflex, Ichigo was about kick his idiot father, but then remembered that his father was still in the World of the Living. He opened his eyes to see a large chipped sword flying down towards him. The wall of Ichigo's room then exploded outwards in a massive blast of yellow reiatsu, and Ichigo threw himself against one of the remaining walls.

"What the hell!?" he yelled. "Just what do you think you're doing Kenpachi!?"

"What?" grinned the large captain of Squad 11 as he slung his sword over his shoulder. "I was just trying to wake you up?"

"By killing me!?" Ichigo yelled. "And what the hell are you doing here?"

"You're becoming a captain later today, ain't ya?" Kenpachi asked.

"Um," Ichigo managed to get out, after all, nothing was certain.

"Then right now's the perfect time to finish our fight!" Kenpachi raised his sword.

"What! Why!?"

"Hi Ichi!" yelled a childish voice over Kenpachi's should, and appeared Yachiru. "Ken-chan has to fight you now, because when you become a captain, he can't fight you anymore."

"Huh? Why?" Ichigo asked quickly. This was it, a way to forever avoid getting killed by Kenpachi! He needed it!

"Tch, captains aren't allowed to attack other captains. If we do, the guy who did the attacking gets executed," Kenpachi explained.

"So I guess that explains why you haven't attacked any others captains," Ichigo sighed.

"Yeah, that's made Ken-chan really sad," Yachiru said.

"Damn it brat, I don't get sad!" Kenpachi growled.

"Hey Ken-chan? Where's Ichigo?"

"What!?" Kenpachi turned to where Ichigo was, only to find nothing. "ICHIGO!!! Get back here! It's only a fight to the death! Nothing to worry about!"

000

Ichigo ran down the halls of the mansion as fast as he could run, until he was certain he had lost Kenpachi, then slumped against a wall.

"That was close," Ichigo said as he exhaled. "If I can last until this afternoon, then it's home sweet home." Ichigo couldn't help but smile.

Then the wall fell back, causing Ichigo to fall back, and look directly up at Kenpachi.

"Hey Ichigo," the captain grinned.

"Told you these paths I built into Byakushi's walls would help us find Ichi!" Yachiru cheered.

Ichigo sometimes hated that little girl.

"Now, Ichigo, DIE!" Kenpachi swung his sword, Ichigo screamed and rolled out of the way and again tumbled onto the floor, Kenpachi then raised his sword and swung it-

The door between them opened, causing everyone to halt in their movements: Kenpachi's attack, Yachiru's laughs of joy, and Ichigo's screams of terror.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," Byakuya eyed Ichigo. "Zaraki-taichou," he then eyes Kenpachi.

"Byakushi!" Yachiru jumped off of Kenpachi and hopped next to Byakuya.

"Kusajishi-fukutaichou," he then said, before shoving a large sweet into her mouth.

Ichigo smiled, sure, Byakuya didn't like him, border-lining hating him, but he wouldn't want his house to be destroyed. He would kindly, yet firmly ask Kenpachi too leave, and Yachiru would make him leave.

Sometime he had to admit Byakuya was okay.

"If you wish to continue this violence, please take it outside," Byakuya said, before shutting the door and going back into his room.

_Oh you bastard! _Ichigo thought.

"Hey Ichigo," Kenpachi said, a manic grin on his face.

Ichigo screamed.

000

Rukia yawned, only having woken up not even thirty minutes ago. She looked into the full-length mirror in her bedroom and took one final look over herself to make sure that her Shinigami uniform was in order, and after a moments thought she noticed something missing. She looked around in one of the drawers of her dresser and pulled out her vice-captain's badge and wrapped it around her left arm. She fondly looked down at the symbol of her position in the Gotei 13, briefly remembering its previous wearer, Shiba Kaien. Rukia was ever grateful to her brother for ceasing any promotions she might have been given under Ukitake's command, though she was upset that as a vice-captain, she was unable to spend as much free time in the Living World with Ichigo. Though she would never tell outright him tell, she was more then glad that he had decided to stay in the Sereitei.

She was then forced out other musing by the sound of her door slamming open, then closed, she turned around to see Ichigo, who was worst for wear, pushing his back against the door.

"You idiot!" Rukia yelled. "How many times do I have to tell you to knock first! I could be indecent you pervert!"

"Kenpachi," Ichigo said in between breathes. "After me, have to, hide! Have to make it to later! Become captain! Safe!"

"Huh?" Rukia asked, having no idea what he was talking.

"If I become a captain," Ichigo said, most of his breath back to him. "Then Kenpachi can't try and kill me, some sort of rule."

"Yeah, that rules applies to everyone Ichigo."

"WHAT!!!" Ichigo yelled. "You mean you knew about this rule and you never told me about it?"

"I thought everyone knew about it." Rukia was now a little annoyed.

"I didn't! If I knew about it then I would have tried for captain from the start!" Ichigo yelled.

"What are you here for anyway?" Rukia asked, wondering why he was here.

"Oh, could I have a place to hide from Kenpachi?"

Rukia raised an eyebrow. "Hide?"

"Please?"

"Fine," Rukia sighed. "But remember what happened the last time you were here?"

Ichigo's face went pale at the thought. Byakuya had walked in on them, they weren't doing anything, just talking, but still, Inoue had a busy day that day,

"Thank you!" Ichigo then jumped to hide the wardrobe. Rukia sweat-dropped, this was supposed to be a new captain?

000

"You can come out of hiding Ichigo," Rukia said to the wardrobe. "It's been two hours, I think Zaraki-taichou isn't looking here anymore." A smirk appeared on her face at the irony.

Now it was him hiding in her closet.

"Are you sure?" Ichigo asked, cracking open the door.

"Yeah, I can't let you hide there anymore, I have to meet with Ukitake-taichou, I can't be late." Rukia started walking towards the door. "You only have an hour left until the test, maybe you can hide at the 4th. Oh, and Ichigo?" Rukia turned back to Ichigo, catching his eyes. "Good luck." Rukia walked out of the room, and closed the door behind her.

With a small smile on his face, Ichigo shunpoed out of the room.

000

Ichigo appeared in the halls of Squad 4, and so far he had yet to encounter any members of any of Kenpachi's men.

"Ichigo?" asked a voice from behind, causing him to yell out. Turning around he looked down at a white skull.

"Nel?" Ichigo asked, looking down at the green-haired Arrancar. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just giving some assistance to Unohana-taichou, you?" Nel said, tugging at the sleeves of the shinigami robes she wore.

"You okay?" Ichigo asked. "You look a little off."

"I'm okay, I'm just not used to these robes really, they're too loose, and I don't really care for black. I much rather prefer my Espada robes."

"You'd rather they'd be green?"

"No, why ask that?"

"Um, no reason."

"You think green's my favorite color because my hair is green, don't you?"

"Um,"

Nel sighed. "My favorite color is white."

"Oh," Ichigo said. After a moment he thought of something. "Wait, when you said that you were helping Unohana, you didn't mean-?"

"I'm not throwing up on people. I'm using kido."

"You can't use kido, you're a Hollow!"

"And you're a shinigami, and you can use Cero, not well, but use it none the less."

"Hey Kurosaki!" called a new voice, causing him to jump again.

"Stop that Grimmjow!" Ichigo yelled at the former Espada. "Why the hell does everyone keep sneaking up on me like that!?"

"Stop yelling already!" Grimmjow yelled right back at him. Much like Nel, he too wore Shinigami robes, but the front of his robes were open enough to see the scar Ichigo had given him, and his Hollow hole.

"What brings you here Grimmjow-san?" Nel asked.

"Oh, not important reason really," Grimmjow shrugged. "Just looking for Ichigo."

"And why's that?" Ichigo asked cautiously.

"You're becoming a captain later, right?" Grimmjow grinned, Ichigo paled. "Well I'm here to kill you before that happens!"

"WHAT!?" Nel and Ichigo yelled at the same time.

"Grimmjow-san! You can't draw your zanpaktou in here!"

"Don't you go anywhere Kurosaki!"

"I hate life," Ichigo squeaked, hoping for something to save his life. Something then caught his eye. "A butterfly!"(1)

The Hell Butterfly gracefully floated between the three, and floated towards Ichigo.

'_Kurosaki Ichigo,' _the message on the creature said. _'You are to report to the 1st Division at once.'_

"Well, I got to go!" Ichigo waved to the two. "Got to become a captain and all!" Ichigo ran down the hall, and vanished down the corner.

"Back here Kurosaki!"

"Grimmjow-san! Please!"

000

Ichigo appeared in front of the door of the captain's meeting room. This was it. He took a deep breath and opened the doors, and inside the room he found Yamamoto-soutaichou, along with two other captains, both of which made him sick to his stomach.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," Yamamoto said. "You have arrived for the opportunity to become one of the thirteen captains of the Gotei 13, I along with Kuchiki-taichou, and Zaraki-taichou will give judgment on you."

"And I get to see how good you are with a sword!" Zaraki cheered.

Byakuya only glared at him.

Ichigo hated this day.

000

It was the next day, and the current captains gathered in the Captain's Hall.

"Since the defection of Aizen Sosuke, Ichimaru Gin, and Tousen Kaname," Yamamoto said to his captains. "There has been a gap in our ranks. With the promotions of Kira Izuru and Hisagi Shuhei, we have filled all but one spot." Yamamoto looked up towards the door, causing all the other captains to do so as well. "I now present the person to fill that gap: Captain of Squad 5, Kurosaki Ichigo!"

The doors began to open, and into the room stepped in Ichigo, now wearing a sleeveless, white captain's haori with a black inside lining.

"Welcome to the Gotei 13, Kurosaki-taichou."

"Thank you," Ichigo said. "I'll be sure to do beyond my best to make sure Soul Society is safe."

"I am pleased to hear that. And on another note, your request for Neliel Tu Oderschvank as your third seat, and Pesche Guatiche and Dondochakka Bilstin as your fifth seats have been approved."

"Thank you."

"Now, Kurosaki, I hope that you are able to perform your duties with greatness." Yamamoto banged with staff against the hardwood floor. "Meeting adjourned."

"Good work Kurosaki-kun," Kyoraku said. "Let's get together for drinks sometime."

"If there's anything you need answered, just come to me," Ukitake said. "Now off to tell Kuchiki."

"Sucks kind of, but good job," said Kenpachi.

Byakuya only gave him a nod.

"Kurosaki," Hitsugaya said. "You're in charge of the fifth now, which means you're Hinamori's captain now. Her last captain hurt her terribly, and if you harm her in anyway, you'll be trapped in a glacier." He then shot Ichigo an icy glare.

Ichigo shuddered, two days, and that's three people who want to kill him.

Yeah, this was going to be great.

(1) A little homage to Bleach Soma Abridged. My favorite thing out of the whole series: Zangetsu.


	3. Summons

-1Fipp: This takes place about seventy to seventy-five years after the Winter War.

New Captain Arc: Summons

Sixth Division

In his office, Kuchiki Byakuya diligently filled out paperwork, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," Byakuya said, and the door slid open to reveal his vice-captain, Abarai Renji.

"Taichou," Renji said, placing a sizeable stack of papers on Byakuya's desk. "Some more papers came in from the Third." Byakuya looked down at the papers, then at his own pile. He sometimes wished he had let Renji purchase this thing called a paper shredder from the World of the Living.

"Very well, you may continue on your business," Byakuya said.

Renji nodded and was about to leave, when something about Byakuya's head, causing the captain to look up. Above his head he saw a Hell Butterfly that had flown through his window. He was about to reach out his hand, and allow the creature to deliver its message, when it bypassed him and flew towards Renji.

Confused, Renji put out his hand for the butterfly and listened to its message. Renji then took on a look of surprise before it flew away.

"What did it want Abarai?" Byakuya asked.

"The Soutaichou wants to see me," Renji said, eyebrow raised. "You have any idea why'd he'd want to see me?"

"I do not. But if you wish to find out, I suggest you make his way to the First."

"Uh, hai!" Renji then ran out of the office, leaving Byakuya alone.

With the paperwork.

Maybe Senbonzakura could work like a paper shredder.

000

Eleventh Division

Ikkaku, Yumichika, Iba, Yachiru and Grimmjow sat in a circle, playing poker and drinking sake. Well, technically, everyone but Yachiru was drinking, which greatly annoyed her.

"Damn it!" Yachiru cursed as the sake bottle, which was being tossed from person to person, was grabbed out of her reach. Again.

"Sorry Fukutaichou," Ikkaku said, swinging the bottle between his fingers. "Taichou said that you can't have any."

"Why not!" growled the pink-haired teen. In the years since Ichigo had become a captain, Yachiru had grown into a teenager, much to the horror of Kenpachi, who was now faced with the troubles of raising a teenager. One of his rules was to not to let Yachiru drink for any reason until she was of legal age, and those who break this rule would be hacked into tiny little pieces. "Just one little sip?"

"Nope, sorry," Yumichika said, looking over the cards in his hands.

"Fine," Yachiru folded her arms over chest, and blew a length of pink hair out of her face. "But on my birthday I am drinking myself into oblivion."

"That would be wonderful." Neither Ikkaku or Yumichika was looking forward to that party.

"Can we just get on with the game?" a frustrated Iba asked. "I just want to wipe the smug face off you." He directed his glare toward Grimmjow, who had been winning the game thus far.

"What?" the Fourth Seat grinned. "Pissed because I'm cleaning the four of you out?"

"Just give me time Jeagerjaques, I'll win everything back. Just you see!"

"Yeah yeah," Grimmjow waved off the vice-captain. "You just keep making excuses."

"Damn you," Iba growled.

"Well I'm gonna kick all you asses!" Ikkaku yelled.

"Hell Butterfly," Yachiru said, causing the rest too see a Hell butterfly flutter down towards them, and land right next to Grimmjow, who listened to the message.

"Tch," he said, pocketing the money he had won. "Look like you can't we back your cash Iba. Got to see the Soutaichou!" And with a laugh, Grimmjow soindoed off.

"Damn you Jeagerjaques!" Iba cried out, while the other three hung their heads.

000

Tenth Division

"What's the matter Shiro?" Hinamori asked Hitsugaya Toshiro as they walked back to his office from lunch.

"It's Hitsugaya-taichou," he replied automatically. "And I'm not worried about anything."

"Shiro?" she playfully whined. "Are you brooding on whether or not Matsumoto-san finished paper work while were out?"

"No one needs to brood over that," he said with a sigh. "Knowing her," he left his though in the air as they stopped in front of his office door and slid it open. His eye twitched at the sight. "Of course."

Not only was Matsumoto asleep on the couch, but the pile that he had asked her to do seemed to have grown at least twice as high since he left for lunch an hour ago. With a sigh, Hitsugaya walked over to the couch and place his hand on the back of it then pushed it backwards, sending Matsumoto rolling to the ground.

"Ouch!" she cried from the floor, only to jump back up, clutching her large chest. "That could have been a disaster! It's a good thing I had airbags!"

"Matsumoto," Hitsugaya growled, gaining his vice-captain's attention.

"Oh, Taichou!" She turned to see Hinamori by the door. "Hinamori-chan! How was lunch?"

"It was very pleasant Matsumoto-san, thank you for asking," Hinamori said.

"Matsumoto," Hitsugaya growled.

"U-uh, yes Taichou?" While Matsumoto was at times grateful for Hitsugaya's growth spurt, she often dreaded it, since now he could tower over her while scolding her.

"Didn't I tell you to get some paperwork done before I came back from lunch?"

"I did!" Matsumoto pointed to the 'Out' tray. It indeed have several sheets of paper in it.

"What about the rest?"

"Oh, well, our Third Seat, Mosqueda, came in and delivered some more, I decided to take a little nap, you know, to charge my batteries!"

"Matsumoto," Hitsugaya growled. "Do I have to freeze you to your desk to get you to do work?"

"Well um." Matsumoto looked around frantically, trying to find a way out of this mess, when she spotted the Hell Butterfly flutter into the room. "Taichou! A message!"

Hitsugaya looked toward the butterfly and had it land on his finger. He listened to the message and gave a heavy sigh. "I have to meet with Soutaichou, so looks like you're off the hook for now."

Matsumoto beamed.

"Don't worry Shiro," Hinamori said. "I'll help her with her paperwork."

Matsumoto deflated.

"Really?" Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "What about Kurosaki? He's almost as bad with paperwork as Matsumoto. As hard as that is to believe."

"I'm right here!" Matsumoto whined, only to be ignored by both her captain and fellow vice-captain.

"Don't worry, I have it covered.

000

Fifth Division

Kurosaki Ichigo dropped his pen back into the ink well and looked at the paperwork he had done. About a third of his work, and he thought he had deserved a break. He stood up from his seat and cautiously walked to the door and gave an experimental tap, Hinamori had a tendency to lock him in his office via a kido spell.

Seeing no kido spell Ichigo active, grinned to himself, and made to leave his office, and maybe find Rukia. Though she would probably berate Ichigo for trying to take her out of work since she had to basically run her division since Ukitake's health had been declining in recent years. Hell, yesterday was the first time in a long time Ichigo could remember the white-haired captain attending a captain's meeting.

This was why Ichigo would try and take Rukia out of work, because he knew her mind would be on Ukitake's health, and how he would most likely not see the end of the decade. Ichigo opened the door, but was not met by a kido barrier, but by his Third Seat.

"Uh, hi Nel," Ichigo said. "What're you doing here?"

"Planning to go anywhere Ichigo?" Nel asked, arms folded over her chest.

"Um, nowhere really, just going to take a walk for a few minutes." Ichigo nervously scratched the back of his head, he knew that if he left work now, he probably wouldn't return for the rest of the day.

"Sorry Ichigo," Nel said. "Hinamori-fukutaichou told me to keep you in here until all your paper work in done." Nel peered around Ichigo to see the work he had done. She had to admit, it was more then he normally did.

"Come on Nel! Just a few minutes!"

"Sorry, orders are orders."

"What! I outrank Hinamori!"

"Ichigo," Nel said calmly, with the same calm expression that she always displayed, though Ichigo felt his resolve to leave quickly leaving. Dammit! He had to stop sending her the Fourth every so often! She was learning far too much from Unohana. Ichigo would rather face all the dead Espada at once then stand up to her.

"Fine," Ichigo mumbled before trudging back into his office, and shutting his door. "Now what I am supposed to do?" Ichigo thought for a moment, before an idea struck. "The window!" Ichigo ran to the window and opened it up and jumped back out, only to be thrown back in his office moments later. "What the hell?" Just then Ichigo felt a very heavy weight fall on his back. "AAAGGHH!"

"Sorry Ichigo, can't let you out, don'tcha know?" Dondochakka asked as he sat on Ichigo's back.

"Yeah Ichigo, you can't be a slacker! Neliel asked us to keep you in here, incase you jumped out the window!" Pesche taunted Ichigo from the front.

"Would you two get the hell off of me?!" Ichigo yelled at his two Fifth Seats, though he knew they wouldn't listen to him.

"Sorry Slacker-taichou!" Pesche said.

"Don't call me that!"

Outside the office Nel sighed to what she heard from Ichigo's office. Sometimes Pesche and Dondochakka carried things a little too far.

Nel then noticed the Hell Butterfly.

"Ichigo, Pesche, Dondochakka," Nel called through the door. "I have to leave for an hour or so, okay?"

"Hai!" replied the Hollows.

"Damn it Nel! Get me out of here!"

"Make sure he does his paperwork."

"Hai!"

"Get the hell off me!"

Nel walked down to the first, without a second thought to the chaos behind her.

Please review

Mrfipp


	4. Offer

New Captains Arc: Offer

"For the last time! Get the hell off me!" Ichigo yelled as he threw Pesche and Dondochakka off of him and into the wall.

"Do you have to throw that hard Ichigo?" asked a dazed Pesche.

"Do your paper work! It's important don'tcha know!" Dondochakka said.

"That's it you little-" Ichigo yelled.

The door opened, and all three turned towards it to see Nel walk in. The Third Seat walked into the room, seemingly deep in thought and sit down on the couch, she then reached into her robes and pulled out a small gray book. Pesche Dondochakka both recognized this as the book she has since before she became an Espada, and she picked it up when she was either troubled, or in deep contemplation.

"Uh, Nel?" Ichigo asked, though he did not gain her attention. "Nel!" Still nothing. With a sigh, Ichigo walked over to her and plucked her book from her hand, finally getting her attention.

"Huh? What? Um, sorry," Nel said.

"Is something wrong Nel?" Pesche asked, getting out from the hole in the wall.

"What did the old man want?" Ichigo asked.

Nel sighed. "It wasn't only Yamamoto who wished to see me."

_Flashback_

_Nel walked down the halls of the First Division, towards the Soutaichou's office, and at the front door, she encountered Sasakibe._

"_Ah, Nel-san," Sasakibe greeted the Arrancar. _

"_Sasakibe-fukutaichou," Nel greeted back, though she couldn't help but notice that the vice-captain seemed a little distracted._

"_You are the last to arrive, so if you step inside we may begin," he said as he opened the door._

"_Last one? Was I not the only one summoned?"_

"_If you please step in, all questions you may have will be answered." Nel raised an eyebrow, but nonetheless entered the room._

_In there, she encountered Grimmjow, Hitsugaya, and Renji, as well as Yamamoto, Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Unohana._

_End Flashback_

"What were they doing there?" Hisagi asked Renji.

Currently, Hisagi, Renji, and Kira were sitting in one of the private rooms of a bar, thanks to the captain's privilege's that Kira and Hisagi had.

"They made us an offer," Renji said, looking down at the sake dish in his hand.

"You were made an offer by the soutaichou and three other captains?" Kira asked. "And did they make the others any kind of offer as well?"

"Yeah, they did."

_Flashback_

"_Now that you are all here, we can begin," Yamamoto said._

"_Sir," Hitsugaya said. "Why exactly have we been summoned?"_

"_Don't little Shiro-chan," Ukitake said with a smile, which further annoyed Hitsugaya. "Just let sensei get to what he has to say."_

"_Okay then, just get on with it," Grimmjow snorted. He had other things to do then hang around these old people._

"_Grimmjow," Nel hissed. "You should be speak more respectfully to your superiors."_

"_Yeah, since you're the lowest ranking person here," Renji chuckled._

"_Hey!" Grimmjow pointed at Renji. "I don't need a rank to kick you ass, _fukutaichou_."_

"_Enough!" Yamamoto banged his staff against the hardwood floor of his office, gaining silence. "Very well then. As you all know, Ukitake-taichou, Kyoraku-taichou, Unohana-taichou, and I are the most eldest of the thirteen captains, each one being a captain for at least five-hundred years, while I myself have been one for so much longer." Yamamoto turned toward the senior white-haired captain. "Ukitake,"_

"_Hai," Ukitake continued for Yamamoto. "The other day, the four of us were having tea, and we begun talking, and it brought up certain issues, such an my illness."_

"_We also brought up a mistake I made the other day," Unohana spoke up. "Of where I was healing an injured patient, and my reiatsu faltered for a moment. Though it was nothing serious, it was cause for great concern."_

"_And I've been noticing some creaking in the old joints, been getting worst each day," Kyoraku said, lazily flipping his wrist around._

"_And my advanced age has done so much damage to my body, that I cannot list them all," finished Yamamoto._

"_If I may ask," Hitsugaya asked hesitantly, "Just where is this leading? What does this mean?"_

"_It means, Hitsugaya-taichou, that the four of us, are too retire."_

_End Flashback_

Ikkaku spat sake out at Grimmjow's news. "What? Retire?"

"Wow," Kenpachi said from his desk. He was supposed to be doing paperwork, but this was much better. "Didn't know captains could retire, I thought that they normally just died. That's how it is with the Eleventh that is." Kenpachi was more the fully aware that each previous leader of the Squad 11, each Kenpachi, had been killed in battle, normally by the guy who took their place.

"Of course they can Kenpachi," Yachiru said as she sat on one of the corners of the desk, absent-mindedly looking through several papers. As Yachiru grew, she had developed a sense of duty for her squad, and went out her way to better it anyway she could. A good example of this was being diligent with paperwork that Kenpachi either missed or neglected, though she never chastised him for it. "I think it's happened before, like I heard that this Kifune lady retired, or something. I don't know."

"This is certainly going to be troublesome," Yumichika said. "Now only are three of the more powerful captains stepping down, but the head-captain. This will have some negative affects on the Gotei 13." Yumichika turned to Grimmjow. "But was this this have to do with you?"

"Oh, that's the best part," Grimmjow grinned.

_Flashback_

"_What?" Hitsugaya asked. "Retiring?"_

_  
"Is this true, Unohana-taichou?" Nel asked the medical captain, hurt by the news. Nel had grown very close to Unohana, and she would sorely miss her when she left. _

"_Hai Nel-san," Unohana replied._

"_But sirs," Renji said. "How can you do this? I mean, normally when captain retires, it's just one. But this if FOUR captains! Do you have any idea of what this could do? Especially since one of them is the head-"_

"_Now now Abarai-kun," Kyoraku waved off the vice-captain. "We may be just a bunch of old guys," _

"_You don't have to call us old Shunsui," Ukitake said._

"_But that doesn't mean we are stupid." Kyoraku simply ignored his friend. _

"_Then what gonna happen?" Grimmjow asked, curious as to where this was going?"_

"_The four of us have decided that you four, when we retire," Yamamoto said, "Are the most fitting to take out places."_

_Grimmjow, Renji, Nel, and Hitsugaya were filled with shock._

"_What?" Hitsugaya asked._

"_Unohana Retsu has selected Neliel Tu Oderschvank as he replacement. Kyoraku Shunsui has selected Abarai Renji as his replacement. Ukitake Jyuushiro Jeagerjaques as his replacement, and I, Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai, have selected Hitsugaya Toshiro as my replacement for Head-Captain._

_End Flashback _

Hinamori and Matsumoto stood in stunned silence at what Hitsugaya had just told them.

"H-head-Captain?" Hinamori gasped in disbelief. The same Hitsugaya-kun who originally wanted nothing to do with Shinigami, and only entered the academy to control the reiatsu he was leaking, was being offered the position of head-captain.

"I just-I mean-it's just," Matsumoto was at a total loss of words.

"I know," Hitsugaya said, leaning against the wall. "It's a lot to take in."

There was a moment of silence between the three.

"Are-are you going to do it?" Hinamori meekly asked.

Hitsugaya remained silent. He had never had desire to be a Shinigami. When Hinamori left to join them, he had felt even more bitterness towards them. Then one day he had met Matsumoto, who had informed him of what his own, uncontrolled power was doing to his grand mother, and so he left to join them, but he had stayed for Hinamori, whom felt, still feels, a need to protect her. When then became a captain after only being a student for only a few years, something that was very rare.

Ironic, the one who was reluctant to be a shinigami was a genius in the arts of one.

"What do you two think on the matter?" he finally asked.

"Us?" Hinamori asked. "Well, um, I don't know. I mean, it's a really big decision, you'll be in charge of not just one squad, but all thirteen."

"Oh! I thought of an upside!" Matsumoto said, turning to Hinamori. "If Taichou takes up the job, then you can your officially sleeping with the boss of everyone!"

"Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Matsumoto-san!" Hinamori's face went red with embarrassment.

"MATSUMOTO!" While Hitsugaya's when red from anger.

_Flashback_

"_I have selected you as my replacement Nel-san," Unohana said to the shocked Arrancar, "Because you have shown great potential, and rapid growth in your kido skills. You are greatly admired by many, if not all, members of the Fourth. Your kindness always makes anyone who enters the Fourth feel more then welcomed, and you have proven to be an excellent leader, in not only leadership skills, but in power as well. That is why I trust my division with you, Neliel Tu Oderschvank."_

_End Flashback_

"What do you three think?" Nel asked.

"I think you should go for it!" Pesche said. "You have always been a great leader!"

"I think you'd be great at it too!" Dondochakka cheered.

"It's not every day someone gets to be offered a captain's spot." Ichigo said. "But what we think doesn't matter. It's all up too you."

Nel thought, glancing back at her book. She remembered the last time she had read this as an Espada, the night before Nnoitra and Syazel Apporo Granz and attacked her, and banished her, Pesche, Dondochakka from Las Noches. Though she had no memory of her previous life at the time, the years they spent, running around the desert playing eternal tag were some of the happiest of her life. When she evolved from a Hollow, she had grown to hate fighting, and was grateful to Ichigo, for often sending her to assist the Fourth, and more so Dondochakka and Pesche for keeping her safe, as well from the fights.

Yes, that's what she would do.

"I'll do it," she said. "I'll go for captain."

_Flashback_

"_You're a lot stronger then you were when you were first a member of Squad Five Abarai-kun," Kyoraku said. "With each new squad, you've not only grown in not only in rank, but in power, if the tattoos on your body give any indication. You achieved Bankai in a relatively short amount of time, and proved to be an irreplaceable asset during the Winter War, and many times afterward. Also, Nanoa-chan needs a slacker as a captain, since it only seems right. That is while I wish for you, Abarai Renji, to be captain of the Eighth."_

_End Flashback_

"Do you think you'll do it?" Hisagi asked. It had been some minutes since Renji had spoken.

"You'd make, and interesting captain, to say the least," Kira said.

Could I become a captain? Renji was thinking. When he had gained Bankai, he had attacked his captain, even though he had barely any control over it. Even though he had lost that battle, he still had to say that he had done very well. Since then, he had harnessed his skills, honing his Bankai, his shunpo, hell, he even manage to get better in kido! Not by much, but certainly better then before.

He was strong, the many tattoos lining his body were proof enough.

Renji then downed the rest of his sake before slamming the dish onto the table.

"That's it!" he yelled out. "I will become a captain!"

_Flashback_

"_Grimmjow-san," Ukitake said. "When we had first encountered you, you were an enemy, working under Aizen, not for his goals, but for your own. Ever since your third fight with Kurosaki, you have been changing for the better. You have gotten on well with various shinigami outside your own division, and I believe that given the opportunity, you can be a great leader, as well as work with Kuchiki, and keep my Third Seats in check. That is why I think you, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques would make a excellent Squad Thirteen Captain."_

_End Flashback_

"Go for it if you want, makes no difference to me," Kenpachi said.

"I've heard the Thirteenth Division has such beautiful gardens," Yumichika said.

"Yeah! Then we can say that we've gotten another produced from Squad Eleven!" Ikkaku cheered.

"It'd be pretty cool I think," Yachiru said.

Grimmjow, since he first became a Hollow, had always strived to become a king of sorts. From the feeding frenzies in the Forest of Menos, to the fights for survival in the on eternal sands of Hueco Mundo. To devouring the flesh of the Hollows who would become his fraccion, to when he became the Sexta Espada. Then Kurosaki beat him, that damned kid beat him at full power, and since then, he didn't know what, but he had been less inclined to beat everyone, and everything he saw. He blamed Kurosaki for that.

But what the hell, his need for a challenge had only grown since his Espada days.

"Let's get ready," Grimmjow grinned.

_Flashback_

"_Hitsugaya-taichou," Yamamoto said. "In the time that you have been a captain, you have displayed great promise. From the time you entered the academy, to this point you have easily proven to be one of them most powerful shinigami that has ever produced. Your zanpaktou, kido, shunpo, and hand-to-hand skills have each grown at rapid rates to where you are at most times unwilling to use your Shikai in fear it may harm your comrades, and you Bankai falls into a completely different matter. If there is a single person whom I believe would be capable of leading not only Squad One, but the entire Gotei 13, it would be you, Hitsugaya Toshiro."_

_End Flashback_

Hitsugaya chose to ignore Matsumoto for the moment, before walking to the full-length mirror that she had installed and looked at himself. To think he had once been shorter then Hinamori, guess those naps worked after all.

Hitsugaya had always followed orders, even when he didn't fully agree, or understand what his orders where, and a part of him never fully trusted how things worked, and always felt that how the system worked, just failed at times. Such as the Aizen incident, and everything that involved Kusaka. If he took up Yamamoto's offer then maybe he could,

Hitsugaya turned around and looked at the reflection of his back, imagining that the vertical line gone, leaving only a single horizontal line.

"I think," he said, turning back towards Hinamori and Matsumoto. "I think I'll give it a try."

_Flashback_

"_Should you four choose to accept out offers, you must know that you will still have to undergo the proper tests. I hope that you make the best decisions."_


	5. Coping

-1Fipp: You know what I find interesting? That almost a dozen people favored and/or put this story on alert, yet no one reviewed.

If you're going to favorite this story, or put it on alert, then leave a _**REVIEW**_! Note that have not only bolded that last word, but italicized and underlined it. That means it's important.

So please leave a review, and while you're at it, review the last chapter. I do not mean to sound rude, but I highly doubt I am the only author who gets many alerts/favors, and little reviews. So leave one please, I'd appreciate it.

New Captains Arc: Coping

The vice-captain of Squad Eight, Ise Nanoa, was having a hard time accepting what she was just told.

"Retiring?" she muttered.

She had just been told by her captain of the meeting earlier, about his retirement, about Renji.

"That's right," Kyoraku said, who was lying on his back on one of the roofs of the Sereitei. His arms were under behind his head, and his hat covered his face from the bright sun.

"You mean, you just," Nanao was at a loss for words. How could Kyoraku think of retiring? Though she was aware that he had been visiting the Fourth more often for the pain in his joints, visits that had become more frequent with each month.

"You're upset with this, aren't you Nanao-chan?" he asked solemnly.

"Um," she said, nervously running a finger along the pages of her book. Of course, how could she not? Since she had first joined the Gotei 13, as an unseated member of the Eighth almost two centuries ago as a child, he'd been her captain. He had comforted her when Lisa had been forced from Soul Society due to Aizen's plans. Kyoraku was the closest thing to a father she had ever had, and she really didn't want him to leave, despite all the flirting, the drinking, the napping, the laziness, the skipping work, the-stop it! You're trying to miss him, not hurt him.

"You know Nanoa-chan." The vice-captain turned to see her captain sitting up. "How long have I known you? About one-hundred and seventy years or so? With the exception of Jyuushiro, I've never known anyone that long. You know, just because I won't be your captain anymore, doesn't mean I'm dying. Just not working." He chuckled. "I'm going to enjoy it, I'll spend my days lounging about, enjoying sake, visiting all the beautiful women."

"So, basically nothing would be different, except you won't be a captain," Nanoa said, slightly annoyed.

Kyoraku thought for a moment, then chuckled. "Guess you're right."

"Kyoraku-tai-" Nanoa began, only to be cut off by Kyoraku.

"Now now, Nanoa-chan," he waved her off. "You know, you can call me Shunsui, since it's more then likely that Abarai will become the new captain. And you know," he shot her a lazy grin, " you can visit me anytime you need."

"Thank you Kyoraku-tai-I mean, Shunsui." It felt odd, addressing him by his forename.

"Great, now, how about a little drink?" Kyoraku pulled out a sake bottle from his sleeve.

Nanoa whacked him with her book.

000

"So taichou?" Matsumoto asked. Right now, it was just her and Hitsugaya in the office, Hinamori had long left to ask Nel and Renji about where they stood on their possible promotion.

"Yeah?" For the last few hours, Hitsugaya had tried to accomplish his paperwork, but his mind had been so busy with the possibility of being the head-captain that he was unable to concentrate on anything.

"If, when, you become the head-captain, then what about us? Squad Ten?"

"I've actually been thinking about that, you recently acquired Bankai, right?"

Had Matsumoto not been sitting on the couch, she would have fallen down at the thought of where this was going with this.

"Though I haven't seen it, Kira-taichou and Hisagi-taichou have told me about it. It seems powerful."

"It is." Matsumoto knew what he was going to ask.

"If I am able to take Yamamoto-soutaichou's place, I'd like you to take my place as captain of Squad Ten."

Has Matsumoto been doing anything, she would have stopped doing it in complete shock. She had just been asked by Hitsugaya to become captain if he was accepted at the head-captain. She had been the vice-captain of Squad Ten since before she had first met Hitsugaya, hell, out of all the current vice-captains, she had held her position longer then any of them, with the exception of Nanoa, though Sasakibe and Nemu followed close behind Matsumoto herself.

Hitsugaya was trusting her with his squad, and that in itself was nothing small. He had always done anything for them, even from the start of his captaincy when very few members of it though much of a 'kid' coming in and leading them. But as the years led on, Hitsugaya gained their trust and respect, something that he had worked hard to earn. So the fact that he was asking her this meant that he had full trust in her, despite all the times he had yelled at her for all the things he yelled at her for.

"Thank you Taichou," she said. "I'd be honored."

000

Rukia sat on one of the small bridges of the Kuchiki grounds, her feet dangling mere inches above the koi pond. She noticed that one of the larger koi was missing; apparently Yachiru had taken another one. Sometimes Rukia felt the pink-haired teen loved to annoy her brother by poaching on his koi, and roasting them over a slow fire.

Ukitake had told her, as well as Kiyone and Sentarou, who had cried dramatically at the news. Rukia on the other hand, took the news in a mature way, it made sense, due to his degrading health.

Though what she said, and what she felt were to totally different things. She didn't want Ukitake to leave, she wanted him to stay her captain, to-

"Hey," said a voice. Rukia turned her head to see Ichigo walking towards her, his captain's haori blowing in the slight wind. When he reached her he sat down next to her on the bridge in a cross-legged fashion. "So, I guess Ukitake-san told you about what was happening huh?"

"He did," Rukia said as she looked into the pond, into her reflection. The rippling water slightly distorted her and Ichigo's images.

"You okay with this?" he asked. Ichigo tried to think of how Rukia was feeling, but he couldn't, since he never had a captain before who had decided to retire.

"A little bit," she said, "I mean, it makes sense for him to retire. But," she paused. "I don't want him too leave. It just makes me realize that he won't be around much longer before-" Rukia couldn't finish.

"That's pretty hard to believe, huh?" Ichigo himself also found this a hard concept to accept, Ukitake's death. Ichigo knew it was something that Rukia did not want to face. "Just so you know, I'll be here for you."

Rukia just turned her head away, though she was grateful for him for saying that.

"Shouldn't you be at your squad?" she said, trying to break the awkwardness.

"Nah, Hinamori's got it covered," Ichigo said. "Plus she also wanted to ask Nel about whether or not she wanted to become a captain."

"Oh yeah, Nel was offered Unohana-taichou's spot. What'd she say?"

"Nel's taking it. I'm also going to let her take Dondochakka and Pesche with her. Their loyalty always laid with her, not me, or anyone else. That's good, they do get along Inoue."

Inoue Orihime was the current vice-captain of Squad Four, promoted after Kotetsu Isane transferred to the Kido corps. She was good friends with Nel and her brothers, and while she would be upset by Unohana's retirement, she would be overjoyed by Nel's promotion.

"Still," Rukia sighed. "Grimmjow? I don't believe he's going to be my new captain." She held nothing against the Arrancar, despite the fact he had almost killed her, and Ichigo, she just found him to be even more of annoyance then Ichigo could be at times.

"Hey, if Grimmjow's getting to be too much of a jackass, just call me in and I'll have a word with him." Though they both knew that when he said 'word', it meant 'to kick his ass'.

"I don't need your help," Rukia sneered, elbowing him in the ribs, though they both knew that this meant 'thank-you'.

Both of them continued to stare off into the koi pond, enjoying the silence in the air, and the company of each other, until the felt a familiar reiatsu flare up.

"Renji?" both asked, looking towards the direction it came from.

"That's the direction of Nii-sama's office," Rukia said.

"Just what the hell is that dumbass doing now?" Ichigo asked, though he was curious as to what Renji wanted with Byakuya.

000

Renji stared down Byakuya, who was currently standing in one of the gardens of the Kuchiki Manor, waiting for a reply to what he had just demanded.

"What is your answer, Kuchiki Byakuya-taichou?!"

The head of the Kuchiki clan remained solemn, and unmoving.

"Abarai-fukutaichou," he said. "You wish to engage in another battle, such as the one we fought in with your first use of Bankai?"

"Hai," Renji said. We wanted another fight with Byakuya, to prove his strength, his power to become a captain. He had always wanted to surpass his captain, and now seemed like the perfect time.

Byakuya did not blink. "Very well."

Please review

Mrfipp


	6. Surpass

-1Fipp: Wow, it looks my 'Whine-like-a-Bitch' plan worked; ten reviews added! Nice.

New Captains Arc: Surpass

"Renji can be a real idiot sometimes," Ichigo said. "Why the hell does he want to do this? He'll probably pass the captain's exam anyway."

"Renji's always wanted to fight Nii-sama," Rukia said. Currently, both she and Ichigo were standing on a hill that overlooked the field were Renji and Byakuya's dual was to be. "It's been his goal since he first met him."

"Meh," Ichigo shrugged. "Aright then, let him fight. But it is a good feeling kicking Byakuya's prissy ass."

Rukia kicked him in the shin, and he yelled in pain.

"Kurosaki-kun! Kuchiki-san!" yelled a delighted voice over the hill. Both Ichigo and Rukia turned to see Inoue running over to them, and trailing behind her was Sado Yasutora and Ishida Uryu.

"Inoue? Chad? Ishida?" Ichigo asked. "Just what are you three doing here?"

"Kuchiki-san asked me to come," Inoue explained. Inoue's vice-captain badge was often tied less tightly around her arm than other vice-captains, so as a result, it would often slide down her arm until it had reached her elbow. "She told me about Abarai-kun fighting Kuchiki-taichou, and that I might need to heal them when it was done with. Also," she reached into her sleeve and brought out a bag, "I brought snacks: wasabi-popcorn."

Everyone went slightly green and told Inoue that they had already eaten, with the exception of Ishida, who somehow developed a taste for Inoue's cooking throughout the decades.

"What about you two?" Ichigo asked.

"Inoue was on her way to this spot when we ran into her," Ishida said. Out of all the vice-captains, he had done to most customization to his uniform; the leggings and sleeves had been hemmed to be more formfitting, a white cape was draped over his shoulders, he wore shoes instead of sandals, and his vice-captain badge was worn on his right arm, just under the Quincy Cross on his shoulder. "She told us about the match and asked us to come."

"So it's true then?" Sado asked, looking over the hill. "Renji is going to take Kyoraku's place?" Sado had become vice-captain of Squad Nine under Hisagi only several months ago, at the insistences of Kyoraku, who had told him that while he was happy that Sado was his Third Seat, that his talents were not being tested enough. Sado was happy with the transfer, he and Hisagi got along well enough, and he enjoyed overseeing the _Sereitei Times_. Still, he wasn't too thrilled about Kyoraku retiring since he considered him a good friend. His vice-captain's badge hung around his neck, since it would rip off when he tried to use his armor.

"So, when's this thing going to start?" Ichigo asked, scratching his head.

"There're here." Sado pointed out to the field, just in time for the other four to see Renji and Byakuya appear.

000

Byakuya and Renji stood apart from each other, the wind blew, causing their uniforms and hair to gently blow with it.

They stared intensely at each other.

"Kick his ass Renji!" Ichigo's voice rang out, followed by a whacking noise and a pained curse. This utterly ruined the moment.

"Damn it Ichigo!" Renji yelled in the direction of the Squad Five captain. "Don't you see I was trying to build up the suspense there!"

"I didn't come here for suspense!" Ichigo yelled back. "I came here for a fight!"

"What?! I am not some performing monkey!"

"Can you just stop this argument?" asked Ishida, who was becoming rather annoyed.

"Inoue-fukutaichou," Byakuya turned his gaze to the orange-haired vice-captain, causing the argument between Renji and Ichigo to cease.

"Um, yes?!" Inoue snapped to attention.

"I do not know how damaging this battle will be. I suggest that you create a barrier to protect yourself, as well as the others who have come here. It would be a shame should four vice-captain, one of which is a member of my family, as well as a captain, to be caught in our battle and injured."

"Hey!" Ichigo yelled. "We can keep care of ourselves!"

"Kurosaki," Ishida growled. "Be quiet." Ishida turned toward Inoue. "Inoue, if you may,"

Inoue nodded. "Santen Kesshun! I reject!" Then in a flash light, a large triangular shield appeared in front of the five, to protect them from the battle.

"Now that they are safe," Byakuya turned back to Renji. "Now Abarai," Byakuya drew Senbonzakura from its sheath, "let us begin."

"Right," Renji grinned, drawing Zabimaru.

Both stood for several moments, until Renji dashed forward.

Renji swung his sword, but Byakuya vanished and reappeared behind him and swung his own sword, but Renji ducked it and attacked Byakuya, pushing him back with several strikes. Byakuya then began his own attacks, though Renji blocked each attack with his own, causing sparks to fly between the blades. Byakuya jumped back, and held his blade vertically in front of him.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura." The zanpaktou dissolved into hundreds of small pink floating blades and rushed at Renji. The vice-captain quickly shunpoed out of the way of the blades, only to be ruthlessly chased by them.

"Howl! Zabimaru!" Renji called, his blade transforming into serrated whip-like weapon. He swung the blade, and knocked away the floating blades, before swinging Zabimaru at Byakuya, but the pink blade flew in front of Byakuya, protecting him. He was surprised to see that Renji shunpoed over in front of him and punched right through the pink shield, slicing up his arm, and grabbed Byakuya by the throat, and dropped Zabimaru.

"Hado 58:" Renji's empty hand began to glow and he threw it at Byakuya, "Tenran!" A massive tornado shot from Renji's palm and struck Byakuya and sent him crashing to the other side of the field. Renji reached down and picked up Zabimaru. "Heh, told you I got better at kido."

"Bakudo 61: Rikujokoro." Renji was then struck in the waist by six rods of light. He tried to get out of them, but they had him trapped in place. "Bankai." Renji looked up to see Byakuya, who's haori was greatly torn and stained with blood, hold his blade upside-down, and drop it. "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Two rows of large sword appeared on either side of Renji, throwing him back into the same position he was in many decades ago. "You have certainly improved since our first battle, Abarai," Byakuya said, raising one hand, palm open. "But not well enough." He then closed then hand, and the blades collapsed into millions of blades, and flooded towards Renji, swallowing him.

Byakuya was certain that he had won, until the blade exploded off of Renji.

"Bankai." The smoke and petals began to clear, revealing Renji dressed in fur, with a white, skeletal snake behind him. "Hihio Zabimaru." Renji then swung the snake, causing it swim through the air, massive jaws open, and crash down on Byakuya, who barely managed to dodge it. "Senkei." The petal then started to circle the two of them, creating a massive cage created out of countless pink swords. Byakuya then swung his hand, causing many of the swords to fly at Renji, but the vice-captain quickly jumped into the red mane of his Bankai and flew into the air, twisting and spiraling his way out of the flying swords.

"Hikotsu Taiho!" Renji called, the Bankai then opened mouth fired out a large blast of energy at Byakuya, who then used several of the swords to block the blast, but some of the energy had still managed to get through and hurt him. Renji smiled; that attack used to wear him out, and now he felt as though he could still go.

Renji then dived at Byakuya, who jumped into the air as the Bankai crashed into the ground. Byakuya then swung his hand, causing a sword to fly at Renji and strike him in the shoulder, knocking him off the Bankai and pinning him to the ground.

"Gokei." The swords, with the exception of the one pinning Renji down, then broke apart and began to blot out the sky, covering all in Renji's sight to be nothing more than swirling pink petals. They then collapsed on Renji, creating an explosion so massive that Santen Kesshun barely stood up to it.

"I-is Abarai-san alright?" Sado asked, peering through the shield.

"I'm not sure," Ichigo said. He had been told of this attack, that it attacked from every conceivable angle, leaving no room to dodge. It was with this attack that Byakuya had easily defeated the Espada, Zommari Leroux.

"Wait! I think I see something!" Inoue said, pointing towards the dust. They could see Hihio Zabimaru lying on ground that had been completely destroyed, giant boulders thrown about, but no Renji.

The Bankai then opened its jaws and Renji tumbled out. He was covered in cuts and was bleeding badly, but he none then less reached down and picked up the handle of his Bankai and stood on shaky legs.

"So, you wish to continue Abarai?" Byakuya appeared from thin air.

"Yeah, I still got a trick up my sleeve!" Renji swung his blade. The ground near Byakuya then burst open, and a large bone-like segment of Zabimaru flew out and struck him from behind and crashed him to the ground. The segment flew back to Renji and joined the rest of Hihio Zabimaru.

Byakuya stood up, his hair piece shattered, and tried to ignore the pain from the last sneak attack. Byakuya had to admit that he was impressed; Renji hiding one of the segments of his Bankai and hiding it in the ground for an attack was something he didn't really expect. But right now he had to focus more, the last attack had badly hurt him, and he highly doubt he could keep going.

"Shukei." The millions of blades then started to fly towards Byakuya and started to glow bright white. "Hakuteiken" They then took shape, forming two large shining wings behind him and a shining sword in his hands.

"Okay then, if that's how you want to play." Renji gripped his Bankai tighter. "Higa Zekko!" The spaces between the segment burst with red energy, with a massive amount pouring out of its mouth.

Byakuya ran forward, sword in hand while Renji threw his attack forward. Both collided and the combining forces created another massive explosion.

"Damn it!" Ichigo cursed. "I can't see anything through all this smoke."

"Renji, Nii-sama," Rukia said quietly, hoping that her friend and brother weren't dead.

"The smoke's clearing," Ishida said. When the dust cleared, both Renji and Byakuya were on the ground, their Bankais disabled.

Immediately, Ichigo picked Inoue up by the waist, gaining a surprised yelp from her, and instantly appeared on the battlefield. Understanding why Ichigo brought her here, she kneeled down next to the nearest person, Renji, and began to heal him. Ichigo ran over to Byakuya and began to drag him to Inoue, who spread her healing shield over him.

"Are they okay?" Ichigo asked.

"They're okay," Inoue said. "But they're both beat up badly.

Both then turned their attention to Renji, who was painfully coughing.

"Renji!"

"Abarai-kun!"

"Wh-what happened?" Renji wearily asked, he then rolled his head over to Byakuya.

"Byakuya's unconscious," Ichigo said. "I'm surprised you're conscious."

"T-taichou's out?" At first he was dumbstruck, then after several moments grinned. "I guess I won then, huh?"

Renji was then out like a light.

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Mrfipp


	7. Familiar

-1Fipp: Another day, another chapter.

New Captains Arc: Familiar

Renji opened his eyes to see a white ceiling with fluorescent lights blinding him.

"What the hell happened?" he moaned.

"So you're finally awake Abarai," said a voice from the other side of the room.

Renji shot up, and discovered that his body was wrapped in bandages, and found Byakuya in the bed opposite him. His captain was also wrapped in bandages.

"K-Kuchiki-taichou?" Renji asked, before pain shot through his body, causing him to yell in pain and fall back into the bed.

"You should be more careful in your current state Abarai. Both of us were heavily injured in our battle," Byakuya calmly said.

"Battle?" Renji wondered. His eyes then opened in remembrance. "That's right! We fought, and I-"

"I believe that you were the victor of this battle, for I had fallen moments before you."

"So, I won?" Renji lifted himself up and laughed. "I knew I could do it!"

"Yes, you were the victor. Now please be quiet so I may rest, while you refrain from working yourself up too much."

"And what's that supposed to mean?!" Renji pointed at Byakuya, only from pain to shoot up his arm. "GOD DAMN IT!" Renji yelled, clutching his arm.

"The captain's exam is not that far off. It would be best if your wounds were all healed up before you take them." Byakuya then lowered himself back into his bed and began to rest.

Renji's eye twitched at how calm his captain was; how the hell could he be so collected after such a great battle? But he was right, Renji needed rest. So he plopped down in his bed for rest.

000

At that same moment, Nel was exiting the Fourth. She had come to visit both Renji and Byakuya to see how they were after their fight. Though she was disappointed to see that Renji was still unconscious, she found that Byakuya was awake, which suited her find. She often enjoyed the conversations they had. After they had talked for about ten minutes, Nel bid farewell and left to go see if anyone else from her division would like to join her for lunch.

Nel then stopped in her tracks, and with a sigh took several steps back. Just then a pink streak fell from the ground and crashed at where she stood moments before.

"Damn it," the attack cursed, rubbing her head. "Why'd you move?"

"Because I didn't want you to attack me Yachiru," Nel replied, walking past the pink-haired vice-captain. "Though you can join me for lunch."

"You're no fun sometimes you know that?" Yachiru said as she began to follow Nel. "Hey, is what I heard from Grimmjow true?"

"That would depend on what you've heard."

"That Unohana wants you to become the captain of the Fourth, right?"

"Correct."

"Hmm, Squad Four sucks. I mean sure, I like Unohana and Inoue, and Hanatarou is nice enough, but for the most part-"

"Could you please not insult my future-squad, otherwise I will be forced to insult your animalistic squad."

"You don't have to call them animals you know. Fine, no squad insults," Yachiru sighed. "Hey, wanna have a spar later?"

"Just so long as you mean 'spar' and not 'bloodbath'."

"Oh come on!" Yachiru shunpoed in front of Nel, waving Gamuza in the arrancar's face. Nel looked down at her sash and saw her blade gone, she then grabbed Gamuza back from Yachiru with a white-gloved hand and placed it back on her waist. Sometimes it really annoyed her when her friend did that.

"I'll see if I have time," Nel said as she continued down the road.

"Yes!" Yachiru jumped in joy, it was always fun fighting Nel. She always hard trouble getting through that iron skin stuff, and that's something she wanted to work on.

"Why me though?" Nel looked back towards Yachiru, who then ran up to Nel. "Wouldn't it be easier to ask one of your squad mates for a fight?"

Yachiru shrugged. "Ikkaku and Yumichika are on a mission somewhere, and Kenpachi got lost again. He should really never to go anywhere without my sense of direction."

Nel sighed, she shouldn't even bother to mention that Yachiru's sense of direction just meant pointing in a random direction. "What about Grimmjow? He's always up for a fight."

Yachiru shrugged. "I don't know where he is. Last I saw him, I think Ukitake gotten a hold of him."

"Ukitake?" Nel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep, not sure why he'd want to see him though."

000

This was the only time in his life that Grimmjow wanted to die. Didn't care how it was, he just wanted to be cut down right now.

"Paying attention Grimmjow-kun?" Ukitake asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah, totally paying attention." Grimmjow had no idea what the hell the geezer was talking about.

"That's good, because if you do become captain of Squad Thirteen, you will need to know the names of every single person here, and make a good first impression."

"Yeah, real important."

"Yup it is." Grimmjow wasn't sure if Ukitake didn't get his sarcasm, or just ignored it. "Now, I've introduced you to all the seated officers, now let us meet the unseated ones!"

"What?" Grimmjow's eye twitched. He had just spent three hours meeting people he didn't think he'd ever see again! And those were just the seated ones! In every squad the unseated officers were much ore plentiful than the seated ones! And how the hell did this old man know EVERYONE'S names!

"And remember, like I said before: making a good first impression when meeting people is important."

Grimmjow wondered if Ukitake was aware that the first time he met this squad's vice captain, he had stabbed her through the gut, and on their second meeting almost blew her head off with a point-blank cero!

Yeah, first impressions were _real_ fucking important.

000

"Now, who to choose," Matsumoto said, looking over several files of higher ranking squad members. "If I am going to be captain, I need a vice captain." She had to choose one that could fit the responsibility she had as the vice-captain, so she had to choose wisely.

Or, you know, screw it! She just picked one at random. She looked at the random filed and smiled at who her new vice-captain would be: Gantenbainne Mosqueda.

It would appear that the Third Seat would be promoted!

000

Hitsugaya had once more found himself outside the office of Yamamoto-soutaichou. He had been asked to come here for a private meeting, yet he didn't know what it could be about.

"You may come in," Yamamoto said from the other side of the door. With a heavy breath, Hitsugaya opened the doors and walked into the office, where inside Yamamoto was facing the large open space in his wall that revealed a grand view of Sereitei. "You wanted to see me Yamamoto-soutaichou?"

"Yes, yes I did." Yamamoto turned around to face the much younger captain. " But first, have you selected a possible candidate for your replacement as captain of Squad Ten?"

"Yes sir, I've chosen my vice-captain, Matsumoto Rangiku, to replace me."

"Matsumoto-fukutaichou? Yes, she did acquire Bankai recently, didn't she?"

"She did."

"Very well, now for why called you down here. It is time for your test."

"Test?" Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yes. As you know, when a new captain is introduced, they must pass a test judged by myself and two other captains."

Hitsugaya nodded, he had been both a test taker and a judge for Hisagi's captaincy test.

"Since I have elected you to become my replacement as the head-captain, you must take a different sort of test; the one I had taken so long ago."

"But, what about the other two captains? There has to be two other captains to witness-"

"Not for this test." Yamamoto than banged his staff on the ground, ripped the disguise of Ryujin Jakka away, revealing the sword's true form. "We must hurry this up, the captaincy exams for Neliel Tu Oderschvank, Abarai Renji, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques and Matsumoto Rangiku is tomorrow." The elder captain raised his sword in front of him and thrust it forward, causing the air to ripple and a large elegant gate to appear. The gate opened and bright light shone out.

"What is that thing?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Now Hitsugaya-taichou," Yamamoto said with clear authority. "Unlike a captaincy test for Squads Two through Thirteen, the test for the position of Head-Captain of Squad One is very different."

"How so?"

"Instead of the test being witnessed by two of the other captains, we will enter the King's Realm, where the King himself and several members of Squad Zero will witness the test."

Hitsugaya's eyes widened. "The King? Squad Zero?"

"That is correct. Now Hitsugaya, before you continue, you must know something: If there is any reason that you fail the test, you will be killed right on the spot."

"Killed?"

"Yes. By entering the King's Realm, you automatically agree to a binding contract. The only shinigami that allowed to enter the King's Realm and leave is the Head-Captain himself. Knowing this, will you still enter?"

Hitsugaya stood there, making his decision.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, what is your choice?"

The ice-master looked the fire-master directly into the eye as he gave his answer.

"I am ready."

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Mrfipp


	8. Test

-1Fipp: So the Pendulum Arc is almost done with. So do you guys think that after this, we'll go directly to the Fake Karakura Town Arc, or we'll have another filler?

New Captains Arc: Test

Ichigo drummed his fingers on his desk, filling the empty line at the bottom of a paper with his name before being interrupted by a knock at his door.

"Come in," he said, looking up from his paperwork too see Hinamori peek her head in.

"Um, Kurosaki-taichou," she said, slightly nervous. "You're wanted at the First Division."

"Really? Why's that?" Ichigo gave this a moments thought, before shooting up from his seat. "Shit! I'm late!" Ichigo ran for the door, but was stopped when Hinamori grabbed his sleeve.

"Taichou," she said. "If you see Hitsugaya-kun, could you please let me know, I haven't seen him since yesterday, and he didn't tell me where he was going."

"Don't worry, if I see him, I'll be sure to fetch him."

"Thank you." Hinamori released Ichigo's sleeve. "You'd better hurry, you're late."

"Damn it!" Ichigo than dashed down the halls.

000

"Where is Kurosaki?" a fully healed Byakuya asked.

"I swear," Soifon said. "Sometimes I wonder as how he became a captain."

"Don't worry he'll be here," Unohana said. "He is, after all, one of the judges for Neliel. He knows how important this is for her."

"He should hurry up," Komamura said.

Just then the door exploded open and Ichigo fell in, but caught himself in times.

"Sorry, sorry I'm late!" Ichigo said, looking around the room, seeing all the remaining captains with the exception for Hitsugaya and Yamamoto. "Why are there so many people here? I thought at most there was only going to be nine people at most, and where the hell is Toshiro, isn't he one of Matsumoto's judges, and the old man too?"

"Why normally I have little interest in things such as this," said Mayuri, flexing his fingers. "I always am interested in seeing how an arrancar fights."

"Okay," Ichigo said, taking a step away from the captain. "What about the rest of you?"

"The rest of us are here just to view the exams," Hisagi started to walk up to Ichigo. "Also, both Abarai and Matsumoto and friends of mine, so I should be here for them."

"Now that Ichigo's here," Kenpachi said. "Where the old man and the kid so we can get this started. Hey, you!" Kenpachi yelled to the door, specially Sasakibe. "Where the hell are those two?"

"I'm sorry Zaraki-taichou, but both Hitsugaya-taichou and Yamamoto-soutaichou will be here momentarily," replied the vice-captain.

"Well, we'll just have to wait for them to arrive," Kira said.

Just then, the doors slid open.

000

"Crap I'm bored," Grimmjow said, blowing a strand of blue hair out of his face. "Just how the hell much longer do we have to wait here?"

"Just until the assembled captains are ready for us," Nel said.

Currently the two former Espada, as well as Renji and Matsumoto, were waiting in one of the waiting rooms of the First, anxiously awaiting for their tests to begin.

"I wonder what's taking them so long," Matsumoto asked.

"Well hopefully it won't take much longer," Renji said.

000

"Yamamoto," Ichigo said. "Toshiro."

"For the last time," the white-haired captain said. "It's Hitsugaya-taichou!"

"So, where have you two been, Yama-ji?" Kyoraku asked, tipping his hat.

"I was discussing several issues with Hitsugaya-taichou," Yamamoto replied as he walked past all the captains.

"What the hell happened to you?" Ichigo asked Toshiro.

"Nothing." Hitsugaya's head was wrapped in bandages, so was his neck, there were several cuts on his face, and Ichigo noticed that his right hand was burned slightly.

"Are you sure?" Ichigo asked. "You look-"

"I'm okay," Hitsugaya snapped.

"Fine, fine. Oh, and before I forget, Hinamori wanted to know where you were since you disappeared without telling anyone."

"Thanks, I'll try to get in touch with her later,"

"Just where the hell were you doing anyway?"

"That's none of your business Kurosaki."

"You know you could at least give me a little bit of information!"

Yamamoto's staff banged on the hardwood floors, seizing attention of the remaining captains.

000

"Third Seat Neliel Tu Oderschvank of Squad Five, Abarai-fukutaichou of Squad Six, Matsumoto-fukutaichou of Squad Ten, and Fourth Seat Grimmjow Jeagerjaques of Squad Eleven," Yamamoto said.

The thirteen captains, as well as the four candidates, were standing in one of the larger outside training ground of Squad One, the candidates standing in front of him while the other captains stood in numerical order on either side of him.

"Today you four will go through several tests to prove that you are worthy of being captains of the Gotei 13. Myself, along with two other captains for each of you will give our judgment and see if you are qualified enough for positions as captains.

"Unohana-taichou and Kurosaki-taichou will judge Oderschvank, Kuchiki-taichou and Kyoraku-taichou will judge Abarai, Zaraki-taichou and Ukitake-taichou will judge Jeagerjaques, and Kira-taichou and Hitsugaya-taichou will judge Matsumoto.

"Before we start, do any of you wish to back out?"

"No sir," they each replied.

"Very well, then let the test begin!"

000

"How do you think they'll do?" Ishida asked.

Currently, he, Dondochakka, Rukia, Inoue, Ishida, Sado, Hinamori, Yachiru, Ikkaku and Yumichika were waiting for the tests to end on one of the roofs of the Eleventh Division. Ikkaku, Yumichika, Pesche and Dondochakka were passing around a jug of sake, with Yachiru trying fruitlessly to grab it as it flew overhead.

"I think they'll do okay," Rukia said, "though I wonder how long it'll take."

"I think I heard Unohana-taichou said that normally a test for one person lasts about an hour," Inoue said.

"Four people, four hours," Sado simply stated.

"Sounds like we still have a bit of time before we find out what happens with Renji and the others," Rukia said.

There was then a crash, causing the four vice-captains to look behind them to see Ikkaku, Yumichika, Pesche, Dondochakka in a dog pile, each one trying to steal the sake from the other, all the while trying to keep it away from Yachiru. And poor Hinamori was vainly trying to keep the fight from exploding into something more, only to be ignored.

"Give it here!"

"It's my turn with the sake!"

"Get off me!"

"Ow! That hurt!"

"I wanna drink!"

"No you can't!"

"Madarame-san! I think you should get your foot out of Pesche-kun's face!"

"Who stuck their elbow in my gut!"

"Who the fuck stepped on my ass!"

"Give that back!"

"Just one sip!"

"That's not supposed to bend that way!"

"Yachiru-chan! Please stop beating Ayasegawa-san with his own zanpaktou!"

Rukia, Ishida, Sado and Inoue sweat-dropped.

"At least we can be grateful that those fighting idiots aren't going for captaincy," Rukia sighed.

"I doubt the world will ever be ready for that," Ishida pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Don't do that!"

"Give me some or die!"

"Stop that!"

"Fuck that hurt!"

"Damn you!"

"Please! Stop!"

000

Their tests were halfway done. They had been asked to demonstrate various abilities that would speak for the leadership skills, deduction, analytical abilities and ect.

"Now that we are done with the first half of the test is complete, we will move into the second half: the combatant tests," Yamamoto said.

Both Renji and Grimmjow grinned, Matsumoto remained content, while Nel sighed.

"For this half of the tests, you're combat skills, the power of your Shikais, Bankais and Resurreccions, to see if they are the level of a captain-level shinigami. To allow us to see your power, the opponents you will face, will be the captains that you intend to replace."

Unohana, Ukitake, Kyoraku and Hitsugaya stepped forward.

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Mrfipp


	9. Howl

-1Fipp: Everyone place your bets! Do you think in the manga is Ichigo in control of his new form, or do you think he's going to try and kill everyone?

And the last episode of the Pendulum Arc really makes me want to know where the Vizards side.

New Captains Arc: Howl

"Fighting the captains who recommended them," Komamura said. "This will certainly be an interesting turn of events."

"So they're going to have to beat the captains if they want the spots?" Ichigo asked.

"Not beat them Kurosaki, only fight," Kira explained. "During this half of the test, the person who is trying to obtain a captain spot must engage a current captain in a fight to demonstrate their own abilities, as well as how they fair against a captain-leveled opponent. The test is halted after the Soutaichou determines it's enough. I'm surprised you didn't know this, you had to go through the same thing during your test."

"That's because he had to fight me," Kenpachi grinned, his answer causing the captains to better understand. Fights with Kenpachi weren't just stopped.

"Now," Yamamoto said. "Out of the four of you, which one will go first?"

Nel and Matsumoto looked hesitantly at each other, while Grimmjow and Renji both stepped forward.

"I'll go!" Renji and Grimmjow called out. They both then turned to each other and glared daggers at each other.

"I said I'll go first," Grimmjow said.

"No, I'll be the first one," Renji said.

Yamamoto sighed. These two hotheads weren't going to get anything accomplished, he knew it.

"I'll go." Everyone turned to Kyoraku as he walked forward and jumped to the training field. "It's been a good while since I had a good workout, and Abarai-kun should help with that. Hope you don't mind Jyuushiro!" Kyoraku called out.

"That's okay, I'll go next," Ukitake called back.

"Now that's been settled," Yamamoto mumbled before he began to speak clearly. "Abarai Renji, you will begin your fight with Kyoraku-taichou, the rest of you please leave the training arena to the sidelines."

Nel and Matsumoto bowed and left the field, while Grimmjow tried not to knock out Renji, who was sticking his tongue out at the arrancar.

"Ready Abarai-kun?" Renji turned around to see that Kyoraku has already gotten to his stop.

Renji smirked. "Oh yeah." Renji drew Zabimaru.

"Then let's get ready, shall we?" Kyoraku drew with twin blades.

"Let the first of the fight, the one between Kyoraku Shunsui-taichou of Squad Eight, and Abarai Renji-fukutaichou of Squad Six, will began now!" Yamamoto banged his staff on the ground.

Renji was the first one to go and threw himself at Kyoraku, slicing his sword against Kyoraku's blades. The blades collided with each other, sending sparks flying as Renji was thrown back. Kyoraku then charged Renji and attacked, giving the redhead some difficulty against the two swords and the captain's graceful movements. Renji quickly shunpoed backwards and swung his blade.

"Howl! Zabimaru!" The bladed suddenly changed into its serrated, whip-like Shikai form. The blade flew forward, and collided with Kyoraku's blades, sending a shower of sparks as they grinded against one another. Renji then jumped forward and retracted Zabimaru, trapping Kyoraku's blades in-between its sealed segments. Renji pulled his weapon back, pulling Kyoraku's away as well and thrust his hand forward, brimming with a destructive Kido.

Kyoraku saw this and quickly grabbed Renji's wrist, and pointed it down towards the ground, sending the blast to the ground and creating a massive explosion, sending both shinigami flying backwards and crashing into the ground.

"Now that was quite good Abarai-kun," Kyoraku said as he stood up and grabbed his nearby blades. "I think I'll have to kick it up a notch though." Kyoraku held out his blades in front of him, crossing them over each other as the wind began to blow around them. "Flower Wind Rage and Flower God Roar," the two blades began to glow and change shape, becoming larger and curving, "Heavenly Wind Rage and Heavenly Demon Sneer!" He quickly uncrossed his blades, holding them out to his sides. "Katen Kyokotsu!"

Renji observed Kyoraku's Shikai blades, the two large scimitars with a long red tassel at the end of each hilt. This was certainly going to be fun.

"Is that Kyoraku's Shikai?" Ichigo asked in wonder, seeing as how he had never personally seen him release his swords. This was another thing that excited Ichigo about these fights; that with the exception of Hitsugaya, and that was only a few times, he had never seen any of the four captains fight too much, or ever, so he was looking forward to this.

"So Shunsui decided to release his swords," Ukitake said in deep thought. "Looks like he certainly wants Abarai to have a challenge then."

"Renji's strong, if anyone is going to have trouble, it's going to be Kyoraku."

"While I hope Abarai fares well, I'm sorry but I think Shunsui would win in a real match Kurosaki-san."

"Yeah right! Renji beat Byakuya," Byakuya tried to ignore Ichigo, "so I doubt this guy will do much better."

"Must I remind you two," Komamura said, "that this is not a real battle, but one only to assess Abarai's skills."

"Still," Kenpachi said. "It's a good fight nonetheless, so both of you stop talking through me, the tattooed guy and the furball so I hear the fight better."

"Furball?" Komamura growled.

"I call them like I see them,"

"Do you even know my name?" asked an offended 'tattooed guy.'

"Not really," Kenpachi shrugged. "I just know Yachiru calls ya '69'."

Hisagi mumbled under his breathe.

"You do know what 69 means, don't ya?"

"Shut up," (1)

000

"Let's see how you deal with this then!" Kyoraku swung Katen Kyokotsu back, then quickly swung them forward, sending massive gusts of wind right at Renji, who barely managed to dodge them. Each blast of wind left a large scar in the earth as it passed.

Renji kept running as the wind passed behind him, looking for a chance to get at Kyoraku when an idea struck him.

He quickly swung Zabimaru in front of him as far as he could, sending the tip into the ground and released himself from the ground and flew forward.

Kyoraku then swung his blades again, at the spot at where Zabimaru was pinned, and with the timing he unleashed another blast of wind, knowing it would collide with Renji, but at the last moment, Renji, in midair, shook Zabimaru from the ground and fell to the ground, causing the whorl to fly harmlessly by.

Renji then quickly rolled to a stop and swung Zabimaru at Kyoraku, who had no time to launch another attack, and barely enough to defend from the blade flying at him. The vice-captain quickly shunpoed forward and unleashed blow after blow from Zabimaru, each strike pushing Kyoraku back.

Kyoraku continued to block Renji's onslaught, he then quickly flipped his blades upside-down and stabbed the ground, channeling the wind through the blades and into earth below. The result was a massive explosion of air that tore apart the ground, sending Renji high into the air. Kyoraku quickly then began to spin his blades in his hands, creating a small cyclone at each blade that began to grow in size and velocity as the blades spun.

The captain then reared his blades back and swung them forward, sending the cyclones right at Renji.

"Damn it," Renji said through gritted teeth as he raised his blade. "Bankai!"

The cyclones collided with Renji just as his blade began to glow red, and he was tossed to the ground.

"Is he down for the count I wonder," Kyoraku asked, trying to see through the dust cloud. A smirk appeared on his face when he heard a loud hiss, and a massive skeletal snake shot from the clearing dust, and moments later Renji appeared, covered in gashes and cuts, and his hair now hanging loose, free from its tie.

"Hihio Zabimaru," Renji said as his Bankai curled around him, like a cobra ready to strike.

"I almost thought you were done for, good to see I was wrong," Kyoraku said, tipping his hat up with one of his blades. "Are you okay?"

"Remind me to ask you that after this!" Renji swung his Bankai, sending the massive snake right at the captain. Kyoraku jumped into the air and met the Bankai in midair, his blades being caught in its teeth. The Bankai then crashed down into the ground, pushing into the earth leaving a massive ditch, it then flew out of the ground with shreds of pink and straw in its teeth.

"Now that wasn't nice," Kyoraku said as he jumped out of the hole, several cuts and scraps on him. "That was my favorite hat and haori."

000

"Who do you think is going to win?" Grimmjow asked as he, Nel and Matsumoto stood on the sidelines.

"Grimmjow," Nel said. "Yamamoto-soutaichou already said that this wasn't about who can bate who."

"I think Abarai will win!" Matsumoto said, ignoring Nel.

"What? That redheaded idiot won't last five more minutes!"

"Willing to bet on that?"

"Guys, it's not a real fight."

"You know I am."

"Why do I even bother?"

000

Kyoraku swung his swords, clashing them against the Bankai as it flew at him. He quickly shunpoed to the ground and readied more cyclones and threw them at the Bankai, blasting it into pieces, only for it reform again and begin to charge a blast in its mouth and firing it down at Kyoraku, but the captain shunpoed above Renji and sliced down, only for Renji to shunpo out of the way of the attack and land on the ground.

"Enough!" Yamamoto yelled, ceasing both Kyoraku and Renji's movement. Kyoraku smirked at his had one of his blades positioned at the back of Renji's neck, while Renji grinned to see that his Bankai's jaws were on either side of the captain.

"Nice one Abarai-kun," Kyoraku said as he slipped his blades back into their scabbards, their Shikai form melting away.

"Same to you," Renji replied as his Bankai dissolved.

"The first of the four fights is now done with," Yamamoto said, "we may now continue with out next battle.

Suddenly a figured appeared in-between Kyoraku and Renji. "Yeah, let's." Grimmjow grinned and looked up at Ukitake.

(1) I could not resist putting that in.

Please review

Mrfipp


	10. Grind

-1Fipp: About the new filler arc staring Kon: What the hell? I mean it's entertaining and all, but it has to be the oddest thing I have seen. (Like that first Hallow, looks like something I drew in kindergarten)

New Captains Arc: Grind

"Are you okay Renji?" Nel asked as Renji walked back to the sidelines. "Do you need me to heal your wounds?"

"Nah, I'm fine," Renji said as he placed himself between the two women. "I'm glad to get through that test."

"It's now Grimmjow's turn," Matsumoto said. "He's going to be fighting Ukitake-taichou."

"This is going to be interesting," Nel said, though she inwardly grimaced at the savagery Grimmjow always demonstrated in battle.

000

"That was quite fun," Kyoraku smiled as he stepped between Hitsugaya and Byakuya. "Abarai-kun's gotten really strong, wouldn't you say Kuchiki-kun?"

Byakuya sighed at the use of his name in such a way. "Yes, my vice-captain has become powerful."

"He certainly has." Kyoraku turned back to the battle field. "I wonder how Jyuushiro will do though. He's not as strong as he once was, but it should still be a good show."

000

"How are you doing Grimmjow-kun?" Ukitake happily asked the blue-haired arrancar.

"Uh, fine," Grimmjow replied, unsure about how casual Ukitake was acting.

"So, how do you think you'll do in the test? Overall I mean."

"Um, good I think."

"That's good, one after all does need self-confidence. I myself think you've done very well so far."

"Okay then. Can we just skip this small talk crap now?"

Ukitake sighed. "Very well then." The captain drew his zanpaktou while Grimmjow eagerly drew his own.

"The battle between Ukitake Jyuushiro-taichou of Squad Thirteen, and Fourth Seat Grimmjow Jeagerjaques of Squad Eleven, will begin now!" Yamamoto said, then banged his staff on the ground.

Almost instantly, Grimmjow threw himself at Ukitake and swung his sword, only for it to be blocked by Ukitake.

The two of them continued to trade blows with each other, though Ukitake found himself mostly on the defensive, unable to meet Grimmjow in terms of physical prowess due to the illness that had sapped his strength during the long years. Ukitake quickly shunpoed away from Grimmjow and fired a kido spell at him, but Grimmjow launched a bala, and the two attacks hit each other, nullified each other.

Grimmjow then quickly soindoed over to Ukitake and threw his zanpaktou down, pinning Ukitake to the ground by his haori. The arrancar then readied a cero in his hand and was prepared to blast Ukitake with it when a kido blast from Ukitake's hand from him in the shoulder, causing him to miss-aim his cero and firing it into the air. Ukitake then pushed Grimmjow back and pulled out his sword and threw it back to him.

"I think I should be getting serious," Ukitake said as he held his zanpaktou in both hands. "All Waves, Rise now and Become my Shield," the sword began to glow, "Lightning, Strike now and Become my Blade!" Ukitake pulled the blade apart, the tips now square hooks, and thin cable between the sword's ends with several metal plates on them. "Sogyo no Kotowari!"

"So that's what your zanpaktou looks like huh?" Grimmjow asked with a grin. I'm going to enjoy this, aren't I?"

With that, Grimmjow pounced.

000

"Grimmjow-kun's going to have to be quick if he wants to stand against Jyuushiro now," Kyoraku said.

"Why's that?" Ichigo asked from his part of the line. "Grimmjow's one of the fastest people I know."

Kyoraku chuckled to himself. "Fast he may be, but he's up against lightning and waves now."

000

Grimmjow shot out and swung his blade, but Ukitake swung his blade, but instead of the blades meeting, a wall of water blocked Grimmjow's blade and pushed him back.

"What the hell," Grimmjow said as he skidded to a stop. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning passed right pass he ear, so close he could feel the heat, and decimated the ground behind him. Before he knew it, Grimmjow was dodging the blasts of electricity fired off by Ukitake, giving the arrancar almost no time to attack, and the few times that he did, his attacks were blocked by water each time.

'_Were the hell am I supposed to hit him?' _he thought to himself. Each time he attacked, the water surrounded Ukitake from all sides-

Grimmjow grinned.

All side except the top.

Grimmjow quickly used soindo and appeared above Ukitake and jabbed his blade down, but he quickly tossed up his blades and caught Grimmjow's. The next thing he knew he was covered in water and zapped full of electricity, and thrown across the field.

"Damn you," Grimmjow cursed as he stood up. He then grinned. "I am really going to enjoy kicking your ass." Grimmjow raised his blade and placed his hand on the flat side. "This is for the nine hours of meeting _every _single member of your squad!"

"I thought you liked that," Ukitake said, hurt by what Grimmjow had said. He himself very much enjoyed introducing Grimmjow to everyone.

Grimmjow only growled in annoyance and his curled his fingers over the blade. "Grind," the blade began to glow a blue light. "Pantera!" Grimmjow called out as swiped his hand over his blade, causing an explosion of air around him, tossing up dust and blocking him from view from the others.

Ichigo tensed, remembering the first time he had seen Grimmjow unleash his zanpaktou. To Ichigo, Grimmjow's Resurreccion had been one of the most fearful forms of a released arrancar, only being beat by Ulquiorra.

Ukitake held his blades in front of him, feeling the intensity of the reiatsu Grimmjow was giving off. He knew that things weren't going to be easy from here on out.

The dust cleared, revealing Grimmjow's new form; the cat-like shape, the sharp claws, the blades on his arms and legs, the long, flowing blue hair, the swishing tail, and the maniacal grin. Grimmjow then reared his head back and let out a mighty roar that pushed Ukitake back. The next thing Ukitake knew Grimmjow was right on top of him, and the arrancar swung his claws down, but Ukitake was able to shunpo backwards before Grimmjow's attack could hit him.

The captain then quickly threw his blades into the air, summoning a massive electrified waves of water forth, then had them barrel towards Grimmjow, but the arrancar quickly jumped back, easily dodged the waves, but was surprised to a wave appear behind him. Grimmjow quickly jumped to the side only to he surrounded from all sides by walls of water, then bolts of lightning began to fire out of the walls, each one aiming for Grimmjow and striking with speed that he had little to no time to dodge each one.

Grimmjow then reared his arm back, and pointed his elbow at the wall, then small blue spikes appeared out of the folds of his white armor and fired out like small rockets and destroyed the wall, allowing Grimmjow to escape.

He then rocketed into the air and dove back at Ukitake, coming at him so fact the captain had barely enough time to block Grimmjow's blades with his own swords and was pushed by Grimmjow's sheer force. Ukitake, with a slight shift in his swords, then sent volts of electricity and sent him into the air. He then swung his blades, sending a torrent of water crashing into him.

The wave then exploded off of Grimmjow as four massive blue streaks erupted from the waves. Grimmjow then plummeted back to the ground and landed on his feet and held up is hand, with four massive blue trails leading off of his claws.

"Desgarron," Grimmjow said, before throwing his arm forward, sending the attack right at Ukitake. The captain then quickly summoned another waves of water, this one much grander then the others, and added a storm's worth of lightning and thunder to it and cast it forward right at Grimmjow's Desgarron.

The two attacks collided with each other and exploded, resulting in debris and steam covering the whole field. There was then the sounds of swords clashing against each other and several other blasts, followed by silence.

Everyone waited nervously to see what had happened. When the steam cleared, it revealed Ukitake with his blades pointing at Grimmjow's heart, while Grimmjow had pointed his arm, and so his dart-like missiles, at point-blank range.

"Enough!" Yamamoto yelled as he banged his staff on the ground. "We have seen enough, we will now move to the next fight."

Both Ukitake and Grimmjow pulled their weapons away, Ukitake sealing his blades back into a singular one, while Grimmjow's Resurreccion ripped away.

"That was quite good Grimmjow-kun," Ukitake said as he slapped Grimmjow on the back. "Something tells me things are going to work out for you." Ukitake then began to walk away, leaving Grimmjow by himself.

"Dammit," he mumbled to himself. "I wanted to kick his ass some more." Grimmjow stuffed his hands into his pockets and kicked at the ground before walking back to the sidelines.

"Now, who is next?" Yamamoto asked Matsumoto and Nel.

"I'll go," Nel said as she stepped forward, hand resting on her sword's hilt.

Please review

Mrfipp


	11. Declare

-1New Captain Arc: Declare

Neliel stepped forward and right up to Grimmjow.

"Sorry Grimmjow," she said. "I'll be able to see to your wounds when this is done with."

"Tch, I don't need to be healed," Grimmjow said before walking off towards the sidelines. Nel sighed at how stubborn Grimmjow could be at times.

"Well Nel-chan," Kyoraku said. "Good luck in you fight against sempai." The captain shunpoed away to his spot between Hitsugaya and Byakuya.

"So Neliel-san," Nel turned to see Unohana walking towards the field, stopping at where should would begin. "Are you ready?"

"Hai." Nel drew her sword.

Unohana gave a nod before drawing her longer zanpaktou.

000

"Unohana's going to fight?" Ichigo asked, unsure what to think. He had never seen Unohana actually fight, though he had seen her release her Shikai. Ichigo shuddered that the memory of sitting in the manta ray-like beast. Why was spit such a powerful healing agent to Unohana and Nel? "So," Ichigo asked to anyone who'd want to answer, "just how does Unohana fight?"

"You'd be very impressed with her Kurosaki-kun," Ukitake said, "new to sensei and Hitsugaya-kun, she's one of our most powerful captains."

"Really?" Ichigo asked.

"Tch," Kenpachi grumbled. Despite his negative feeling towards the Fourth, he had to admit that Unohana certainly was strong; he had found this out when managed to provoke her into a fight. He had lasted ten minutes, and it was one of the best ten minutes of his life.

"Let's see then?" Ichigo asked. Despite what Ukitake had said, he had strong hopes for Nel; he may have never seen Unohana fight, but he had seen Nel's full capability and had nothing but the utmost confidence in his Third Seat.

000

Both Nel and Unohana stood five meter from each other, their swords drawn, then vanished. A second later a shower of sparks appeared in the area directly between them as their swords clashed against each other and were pushed back. Nel quickly dashed forward and stabbed her blade forward, only for Unohana to quickly bring her blade up and catcher Nel's by the flat side. The arrancar quickly brought her fist up and launched a bala at Unohana, throwing the elder women back a good distance. Nel then opened her mouth and a violet orb appeared and grew in size, she then launched the cero directly at Unohana, but the woman quickly shunpoed out of the way before it could hit her.

Unohana quickly appeared in to the side of Nel and swung her sword, but blocked the attack with her own blade. But Unohana wrapped her hand in a kido spell and thrust it, palm first, and struck Nel in the abdomen and sent her back, she then barely had time to jump back from Unohana's downward slice , resulting in a cut on her arm.

Nel looked down at he cut in surprise. During the years one of the skills she had been working on was the strength of her hierro and had managed to increase its strength to a point where Yachiru had difficulty cutting her where her sword was sealed. The fact that Unohana had managed to cut her so easily only spoke of how powerful the captain was. Nel pulled the sleeve up and spat on the wound, letting the healing agents work.

The arrancar quickly soindoed forward and sliced at Unohana, but the woman quickly parried the attack and jumped back, but Nel quickly cast a binding kido on Unohana, holding her in place when she touched the ground. Nel then opened her mouth and summoned a cero and fired it at Unohana, but despite being bound to the ground, Unohana quickly summoned up a Kido shield and threw it off to the side.

Nel then quickly vanished from her spot and reappeared in front of the redirected cero. She raised her hand to the cero and stopped it, only to swallow it whole moments later.

"Cero Doble!" Nel fired the larger violet cero at the immobilized Unohana, which created a massive explosion when it crashed down on the captain. Nel was not surprised when a large green creature quickly flew out of the top of the smoke plume.

000

"Now that was clever," Grimmjow said. "Absorbing her own cero to perform a Cero Doble. She always managed to pull something clever off like that as an Espada."

"Well let's hope that Neliel-san can keep that cleverness up," Matsumoto said, "because Unohana-taichou just summoned her Shikai."

"Her Shikai?" Renji asked. "What's that going to do? All it does is heal people."

"Not sure," Grimmjow said. "How can we be sure that's all it does? I mean everyone's afraid of the woman, so it's got to be powerful and do more then that."

"I think everyone's afraid of Unohana-taichou for reasons that have nothing to do with her zanpaktou," Renji said with a shiver.

. . .

"You know, the last time I was at the Fourth with Ikkaku and the guys, Nel displayed some very Unohana-like scare tactics," Grimmjow said. "I think that woman's been teaching Nel how to scare people without acting scary."

Each of the three shuddered at the thought of what Unohana could have taught Nel.

000

"Minazuki," Unohana said as she sat atop the head of the massive manta ray-like, cyclopean creature. The larger creature made a warbling noise as it dived down at Nel. She quickly jumped at the way of Minazuki and stabbed at it, but its skin flexed under her blade and bounced her back, causing her to crash to the ground. The creature quickly spun around, its eye beginning to glow, and fired an energy laser from its eye, which Nel barely managed to dodge in time.

The creature then dived at Nel, ready to swipe her up, she raise her sword horizontally in front of her.

"Declare," she said as the blade began to glow a faint pink, mist of the same hue streaming off the blade's tip. "Gamuza."

The air around Nel exploded, sending Minazuki and Unohana off their course and crashing into the ground. Unohana quickly jumped to the ground as Minazuki righted itself up, the captain raised the bladeless hilt of her sword and placed it against Minazuki's hide, only to pull it away moments later, but now with a piece of Minazuki forming the long blade again.

When the smoke cleared, Nel stood there, the lower half of her body now an ibex-centaur, her hands, arms, shoulders and chest armored, her mask now larger helmet with more curved horns while Gamuza itself had become a large double-sided spear. Nel then raised the spear in front of her and galloped forward with such speed that neither Unohana nor Minazuki had anytime to react.

The arrancar clashed her spear against the flat side of Unohana's blade and pushed her back with a great amount of force, that Unohana had to dig her heels into the ground and it flew underneath her feet, just to slow Nel down.

Nel then knocked Unohana back with the flat side of her spear. She made to attack Unohana when she sensed Minazuki quickly flying at her backside. Nel quickly raised herself on her forelegs and unleashed a powerful back-kick into the creature and sent it flying back and crashing to the ground until it managed to right itself in the air. And in a burst of shunpo, Unohana appeared on the creature's top.

Nel turned around to see that Minazuki was preparing another laser blast, but she could tell that this one would be much more powerful than the previous blast fired. She then reared herself on her hind legs and held her spear up high.

"Lanzador Verde," she called, before throwing her spear, just as Minazuki unleashed another laser at her. The two attacks collided with each other, each one pushing against each other, trying to outdo the other.

The attacks suddenly exploded against each other, causing the ground to upturn in the surrounding area.

"If the battles keep ending like this," Kira said as he observed the damage from this battle, and the previous two, "I doubt they'll be much of an area for Matsumoto-san and Hitsugaya-taichou to fight in."

Nel quickly dashed forward and grabbed the lance and soindoed forward and quickly positioned the weapon directly in front of Unohana, though Minazuki's eye was glowing, ready to fire another blast at Nel should she continue with her attack.

"Enough," Yamamoto called out as he banged his staff against the ground. "I have seen enough of this battle."

Both Unohana and Nel nodded and sealed their zanpaktous: Minazuki dissolving into green mist as Unohana sheathed her blade, while Nel's centaur-body ripped off her body, leaving her in her human form.

"Now that this battle is done with, we will continue the next, and final battle," Yamamoto said.

Both Hitsugaya and Matsumoto stepped forward.


	12. Growl

-1Fipp: You know what, I'm not too surprised by the latest chapter: Aizen is all about misdirection, and this seems like a perfect form to do this.

Also, I feel bad for the rabbit arrancar at the end of the last filler episode, I expected an awesome fight, but instead. . . . Poor little bunny.

Also, my first original Bankai!

New Captains Arc: Growl

Both Hitsugaya and Matsumoto left their respective lines and entered the field, just as Unohana walked back, straightening her haori as she moved into her spot.

"Look's like things are coming to a close, huh?" Kyoraku asked. "Though, it is a little curious."

"What's curious?" Soifon asked.

"If Hitsugaya-kun is still captain of the Tenth, then why is Matsumoto-chan trying for captaincy? He's still the captain until he takes the test, I can see afterwards, but not before."

"Sensei," Ukitake asked. "Hitsugaya-kun taken the test already?"

Yamamoto said nothing, causing the older captains to gasp.

"What?" Unohana gasped. "He took the test? So that means-"

"Nothing for the moment," Yamamoto said.

"But Yama-ji, if he took the test, and is standing there then that means-"

"What are you guys talking about?" Ichigo asked. "What difference does it make if he passed the test and is standing right there?"

"If a shinigami captain attempts to take the test of becoming the captain-commander, and fails, they die," Byakuya said solemnly.

"What?! How the hell-but he's standing right there so-"

"Hitsugaya-taichou made a request before the test was taken," Yamamoto said.

_Flashback . . ._

"_Soutaichou," Hitsugaya asked from behind the older man as the walked down the giant white halls of Squad Zero, ready to meet with the King himself._

"_Yes_ _Hitsugaya-taichou?" Yamamoto asked, turning around._

"_If I fail this test, then I will die, am I correct?" Yamamoto nodded his head. "Can I make a request to the King?"_

"_And what would that be?"_

"_If I do fail, then I would not like to be killed right on the spot, but I would like to tie up any loose ends I may have, like Matsumoto's captaincy test, and Hinamori."_

_Yamamoto nodded and walked down the halls. Hitsugaya followed._

"The King is not an unreasonable man," Yamamoto said. "He allowed Hitsugaya his request, to allow him to finish anything he may need should he fail the test."

"Did he pass, Yamamoto-soutaichou?" Komamura asked.

"That is something that will be revealed when all is said and done, but for now, let us only focus on the test at hand." At this, the other captains silenced.

Despite the fact the commander had basically told them to shut the hell up, this couldn't put Ichigo's mind at ease. Hitsugaya was a good friend of his, despite what he said, and if Hitsugaya did fail the test, and would die, then that would create great sorrow upon himself, Squad Ten, Matsumoto and Hinamori. Ichigo really hoped that Hitsugaya passed.

000

"Hi Taichou!" Matsumoto waved at her captain, who only sighed.

"Matsumoto,"

"Ne, Taichou, we've you been lately? No one's seen you at all!"

"I'll tell you later,"

"Well it's good you showed up! The office is such a mess!"

"I was only gone a day, how much could have gone wrong?"

"Um, yeah, about that . . ." Matsumoto drew a circle in the dirt with her foot.

Hitsugaya's eye twitched. "Matsumoto!"

Yamamoto banged his staff on the ground, ceasing Hitsugaya's explosion. "The fight between Hitsugaya Toshiro-taichou of Squad Ten, and Matsumoto Rangiku, also of Squad Ten, will begin now!"

Both captain and vice-captain drew their swords from their sheaths and shunpoed at each other, their blades clanging against each other. Matsumoto quickly stabbed forward, but Hitsugaya quickly blocked her blade, pushed it away and made for his own attack, but Matsumoto quickly jumped back and raised her zanpaktou into the air.

"Growl, Haineko!" Matsumoto called out, her blade exploding into a grey cloud of ash that quickly flew at Hitsugaya. But the captain quickly swung his sword, and to Matsumoto's shocked, knocked the ash cloud to the side. The vice-captain quickly swung the hilt of her blade and twisted it around, making the ash to form a twister that surrounded Hitsugaya from all sides, leaving him no room to escape before it collapsed on him.

Matsumoto smirked to herself for having to trap her captain, but this smirk vanished when a massive burst of reiatsu shot from Hitsugaya, knocking the cloud away, she was surprised to see a number of cuts and shreds on his cloths, but not a single cut on himself. The captain quickly vanished from Matsumoto's sight, before reappearing in front of Matsumoto and sliced at her, but she quickly summoned the ask to form a shield in front of her, but this proved useless as Hitsugaya simply sliced through it with ease.

"Matsumoto," Hitsugaya called out, apparently the battle had no affect on him. "Use your Bankai."

"What?" Matsumoto asked. "But you haven't even used your Shikai. If I use Bankai, then I might-"

"Just do it Matsumoto," Hitsugaya said indifferently. "You came here to prove how strong you are, correct? I am here to prove just how strong I am to the other captains. The best way to do that is through your Bankai, so do it."

Matsumoto looked at her captain, then turned her sight down to her sword's lone hilt, she could hear Haineko agreeing with Hitsugaya, and that he wanted to be fully released. Matsumoto looked back up to her captain, eyes filled with determination and yelled.

"Bankai!" The ash suddenly exploded into a massive twister around Matsumoto, growing in size until it had reached the sky. The twister then collapsed upon itself and moved backwards and revealed Matsumoto, who was now loosely garbed in a elegant silky grey kimono, adorned in patterns of dark gray swirls, while the massive ash cloud began to take a definite shape. It had formed a massive tiger-like creature, smoke pouring from various places on its body while the inside of it's mouth and eye glowed a burning red. "Nenshoufunka Haineko!" (1)

The massive Bankai roared as it pounced on Hitsugaya, who quickly jumped into the air to avoid the massive creature composed of countless ash-like blades, only for it to collapse upon itself and dash after Hitsugaya, leaving barely any room for the captain to run before it surrounded him and collapsed.

The side of the Bankai suddenly exploded from a kido blast, and Hitsugaya jumped out, and much to Matsumoto's surprise, his clothes were only slightly more torn, and with the exception of the mild bleeding cut on his forehead, he seemed perfectly fine. This in itself completely stumped Matsumoto: Her Bankai was similar to Kuchiki-taichou's Bankai in the fact it struck from every single angle, leaving no room to escape while it shredded them into nothing. Though she was a little happy she had managed to get his breathing to deepen.

"I think it's time to show what I can really do," Hitsugaya said as he lifted his blade into the air. The skies then began to darken as the thick black clouds blotted out the sun, and the temperature began to drastically decrease. "Sit Upon the Frosted Heavens," Hitsugaya said as a massive flood of reiatsu poured off of him, almost forcing Matsumoto to her knees. "Hyorinmaru!" Hyorinmaru's blade exploded in wind and ice, enough to cover the whole field in it, causing the temperature to drop even further, having an affect on everyone.

Nel and Grimmjow had to knock the icicles forming on the teeth of her mask. Both Byakuya and Mayuri pulled their scarves closer to their bodies. Everyone in their own way had to deal with the intense cold.

"Why is Toshiro going Bankai?" Ichigo asked, arm in front of face.

"This is not Hitsugaya-taichou's Bankai," said Yamamoto, the only one not affected by the sheer cold.

"What?"

"This is only his Shikai, and not at it's full power."

"But, Yama-ji," Kyoraku said, surprised at this. "This reiatsu is even stronger than yours in your prime!"

"I know." _If you children can barely stand to his dulled Shikai, then his fully released Bankai would certainly crush you, _Yamamoto thought, recalling the only time in so many years he had been cold.

000

It took everything Matsumoto had to stand up against the reiatsu being poured off by her captain. Was this really her captain's power? It had been a bit over a decade since he last used Shikai, and gods know how many more since he used Bankai. Had his power truly grown this powerful since then?

The air began to clear, revealing that massive ice blocks had formed around the ground, the heavy snow falling from the sky, but what caught Matsumoto's attention was the giant ice dragon hovering behind Hitsugaya.

"Matsumoto!" Hitsugaya called out. "Are you going to do something, or just stand there all day?"

Matsumoto shook her head to get rid of the snow that had collected in her hair and flung her hand, causing the Bankai to fly forward, its mouth and eyes a roaring inferno. But Hitsugaya did not move, he simply swung his blade, sending the dragon forward. The dragon would have certainly of struck the cat had the latter not separate long enough to allow the dragon to fly through, then reforming when it had passed, and continued for Hitsugaya. But the captain still did not move, instead he simply put his hand out and caught the Bankai on the snout, ceasing its movements.

"H-He caught it?" Matsumoto asked, knowing any hope she had of winning never existed. "He stopped it with his bare hand?"

Hitsugaya could feel the heat coming off the Bankai as the small blades at his palm tried to slice him up, only to utterly fail. He then raised his blade and swung it down, sending a massive ice blast forward, slicing the Bankai entirely down the middle, freezing both halves in ice.

"How is that possible?" Mayuri asked in disbelief. "It may be a new Bankai, but nonetheless, a Shiki shouldn't have that kind of power!"

"It would appear that Hitsugaya-taichou's power is now truly beyond our comprehension," Byakuya said.

Matsumoto stared to both awe and horror at how easily Hitsugaya had just dealt with her Bankai, all while her gray kimono melted away, meaning her Bankai had undid itself. She then fell to her knees, no longer able to properly stand, before falling unconscious.

(1) Burning Eruption Ash Cat.

Please review

Mrfipp


	13. Captains

Fipp: I don't think Hitsugaya is doing too well, same goes for Soifon and Omaeda, though not to the same extent.

New Captains Arc: Captains

_In the captain's meeting room, the thirteen captains stood in line. Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Unohana stood out of line, along side Yamamoto, each one without their captain haori._

"_Today is a day that is unique in the history of the Gotei 13," Yamamoto said. "It is today that an old chapter ends, and a new one begins. The retirement of the most eldest captains, must happen to allow room for a new vision, to allow new captains."_

_The doors opened, and inside stepped in several figures._

"_For the retirement of Ukitake Jyuushiro of Squad Thirteen, we have elected his replacement as Grimmjow Jeagerjaques-taichou."_

Grimmjow tugged at his new haori, sleeveless with a teal inside lining.

"You understand everything Grimmjow-kun?" Ukitake asked.

"Huh?" Grimmjow said. "Uh, yeah, totally."

"That's good, now I'd better leave now. See you later Jeagerjaques-taichou!" Ukitake waved before leaving the office. Though he was quickly tackled into a hug by Kiyone and Sentarou, who were sobbing at his leaving.

"So, _taichou._" Grimmjow turned around to see Rukia. "What's your first move as captain?"

Rukia was a little apprehensive about Grimmjow as her captain, mostly because he had almost killed her several times, but she had trust in Ukitake's judgment. She also guessed if something was wrong, she could just tell Ichigo, or Renji.

She sighed. Ichigo, Renji, Grimmjow: each one of them was a massive idiot, why did she associate with them again? Oh, yeah: Lover, oldest friend, and now current captain, respectively.

"I don't know," Grimmjow said. What was he supposed to do again? Dammit, he probably should have listened to Ukitake.

"You have no idea?" Rukia asked. "Didn't you listen to a single word Ukitake-taichou was saying?!"

Dammit.

"Um, kind of." Grimmjow scratched the back of his head.

"You couldn't even listen to Ukitake-san for five minutes?" Both Grimmjow and Rukia turned to the door to meet Ichigo walking in. "Man, I just can't wait to see how that attention span of yours last in a captain's meeting."

"What was that Kurosaki?" Grimmjow growled.

"What? I'm just a little worried in your first captain's meeting you may not have any idea what's going on."

"I have a good enough attention span, and I can kick your ass enough to prove it!"

"What the hell does that have anything to do with anything?"

"What? Scared I'll beat ya!"

"Fine! If you beat me then that proves you have a large attention span!"

"I'll just show you how much of an attention span I have!"

_BAM_

Both Ichigo and Grimmjow now laid on the floor, unconscious.

"Ichigo don't antagonize Jeagerjaques-taichou, and Jeagerjaques-taichou, don't antagonize Ichigo," Rukia said.

Both captains groaned in pain.

Rukia sighed.

"_For the retirement of Hitsugaya Toshiro of Squad Ten, we have elected his replacement as Matsumoto Rangiku-taichou."_

Matsumoto happily plopped down into her new chair, the same one Hitsugaya had sat in for many years.

Originally, she had felt upset in her own abilities, being in the only the only battle not to end in a tie, and how that Hitsugaya had destroyed her. But it was explained to her that her overall display of skills were what show if she was worthy of captaincy.

So she was surprised when she was given a sleeveless haori with a pink inner lining.

"Now, what should I do?" she asked herself, looking at her desk. On one side was a stack of papers that needed to be done, while on the other was the only sake jug she had managed to hide from Hitsugaya before he could confiscate it away.

Screw it, she took the jug. She could just have her newly promoted vice-captain, Mosqueda, do it later.

He happily uncorked the jug and tipped in towards her mouth, but instead of receiving the delicious sake, she instead had a small paper scroll shoved down her throat.

She began to cough and quickly pulled it out of her mouth before looking back into the jug. She began to weep to find that it had been emptied in order to place the scroll there. After several minutes of crying, she unrolled the scroll.

'_Matsumoto,_

'_If you're reading this, then that means you've made captain. Congratulations, I'm trusting you to watch over the division. I have full faith in you._

'_Hitsugaya Toshiro.'_

Matsumoto smiled at the letter. Regardless to how many times he told her, she would always appreciated him telling her so. She continued to read the rest of the letter.

'_P.S. While I trust you in many aspects, I have no faith in you whatsoever when it comes to paperwork, so don't ask your vice-captain to do it for you. I've already talked to the people who you'd most likely hire and told them that they are not allowed to assist you in paperwork._

'_Think of this as payback for all the times you left me with your paperwork.'_

Matsumoto's eyes twitched at this.

"TAICHOU!" she cried out so loud that even the people out in the Maggot's Nest heard her. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!"

"_For the retirement of Kyoraku Shunsui of Squad Eight, we have elected his replacement as Abarai Renji-taichou."_

"Now now," Kyoraku said, slinging his arm over Renji's shoulder, over the new sleeveless haori with a maroon inner lining. "Got everything you need?"

"I think so Kyoraku-taichou," Renji said. Since he became captain, the tattoos on his body hand grown, now expanding onto his cheeks and chin, he also wore a new pair of goggles.

"Now don't call me that Abarai-kun! It's just Kyoraku, or Kyoraku-san, or the great Kyoraku-sama, or even better-"

_CRASH_

Kyoraku now lay on the ground with a large welt on his head, courtesy of Nanoa.

"Shunsui," she said, still getting used to addressing him by his given name. "Could you please leave, Abarai-taichou has work to do."

"Oh, Nanao-chan doesn't want me here anymore!" Kyoraku cried fake tears. He could always count on Nanao-chan to be business first. "Very well, I'll just head to the retirement home where I'll be kept care of by the nurses," a perverted grin appeared on his face, "maybe if some of them will look very attractive."

_CRASH_

"Well Abarai-taichou," the vice-captain said, ignoring the former captain's groans. "Welcome to Squad Eight."

"You're not going to hit me like that, are you?" Renji asked, taking a step back from Nanao.

"That depends, are you going to act perverted, or idiotic?"

"Um, no." Renji had no choice to lie, he wanted to start off his first day as captain not getting beat up by his vice-captain.

"Good then," Nanao smiled.

"_For the retirement of Unohana Retsu of Squad Four, we have elected her replacement as Neliel Tu Oderschvank-taichou."_

"There," Nel said, looking at her new office, tugging at the hem of her new sleeveless haori, with an opalescent inner lining. "I've placed everything where I need it. You don't mind that I turned it around, do you?"

"Of course not," Unohana said. "It's your office now, and yours to do with as you please."

"Okay then,"

"Do you have everything you need?"

"I think so, but, where's-"

_CRASH_

Both Nel and Unohana turned to the door to see that both Dondochakka and Pesche had broken down the door, and were now lying on the floor.

"Oh, look," Unohana said. "Pesche-kun, Dondochakka-kun, your new Third Seats."

"Nel!" the two cried out as they jumped up. They then continued to quickly speak over each other, so that Nel had no idea what they were talking about.

This was only made worst when Inoue frantically ran in and tried to talk over them. Nel was not sure if they were talking about the same thing.

While the green-haired woman tried to decipher what they were talking about, Unohana softly smiled.

"_And as for my own retirement, I have personally selected Hitsugaya Toshiro, for the position of Captain-Commander, leader of not only Squad One, but the entire shinigami forces of the Gotei 13."_

Hitsugaya stood in his new office, looking over the Sereitei as the sun began to set. His arms were folded over his chest, the hands stuffed into the opposite arm's sleeves. It felt a little odd to no longer be wearing his old haori, now replaced with a newer Squad One haori. The inside lining was still green, but now had long sleeves. Yamamoto had already left, leaving Hitsugaya in charge.

So here he was: Hitsugaya Toshiro-soutaichou, leader of the Gotei 13. This was certainly a position he had never thought he'd be in.

He heard the door open, he then turned around to see Hinamori walk in.

"Hi there Hitsugaya-kun," she said.

"You have to call me Hitsugaya-soutaichou now you know."

"I know," she said. "I just came to see how you're doing so far."

"I've only had the job for less then a day, I don't think I've done anything to issue any sort of stress."

"I know, but still, this is a very stressful job. Speaking of the job, how did you pass that test?"

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "Test?"

"Hai, the test that you had to take to take Yamamoto's place."

"Sorry," he chuckled. "Soutaichous only are allowed to know."

"What? Come on Shiro-chan!"

"Nope, can't tell you anything."

"Now you're just being mean!"

Hitsugaya chuckled.

Yeah, things were going to be interesting from now on.

000

And here is the end of the New Captains Arc! Next weak there'll be an omake chapter, then the next arc: The Autumn Arc.


	14. Death

-1Fipp: I like the dubbed voices of Hiyori, Yammy and Ulquiorra, though Ulquiorra's could have been a little deeper.

Drabble: Death

With the exception of a select few, all shinigami had once lived in the World of the Living, but had died. A majority of them are unable to recall their deaths, though they do feel it linger.

Hitsugaya had burned. When he was a young child, a band of thieves raided his town and had set fire to a large portion of the town. His parents had hid him underneath his bed, to keep him safe from them, but the fires consumed the house so quickly that he never had time to escape him room. It is mainly this reason as to why he prefers the cold winters to the hot summers.

Sasakibe had made a choice. He had supported the rise of a new leader in the city his lived in, one that was either loved or hated by the people, the latter of these people had begun to attack the former. When he was caught, he was given a choice to change his mind, or die. His choice led to a rock to his head.

Soifon slipped. She was one day taking a peaceful walk in the forest behind her family's grounds and had gone to the river. There she skipped across the rocks to make it to the other side, but her foot had slipped on a mossy stone. Her head struck a rock and was knocked unconscious. She drowned in five inches of water.

Omaeda was broken. He was riding in a carriage one day, but the horses had begun to act up, and they had flipped over the carriage. He would have lived, had it not been tossed over a cliff and crushed at the ravine's bottom.

Kira had been trampled. He had been playing with a ball with several other children, and when it was tossed to him, he had dropped it and it had rolled down the street. He ran to get it, but did not notice the speeding horse-drawn carriage roaring down the street.

Nel had taken her life. She had just visited a sick relative, and had began to travel home at night, she was then struck from behind and knocked out. When she woke up she found out she had been kidnapped by a group men who often targeted young women for their own twisted pleasures. She managed to get one of their knives, but knew that should wouldn't be able to fight them all.

Pesche and Dondochakka were caught in a riot. They were in the castle of the land's lord, both of them servants. The people no longer wanted this man to rule of them, so they stormed the castle in fury, causing destruction to everything they touched. Both Pesche and Dondochakka were pulled into whirlpool of destruction and lost their lives among the chaos.

Hinamori had fallen. Her family had little money, but nonetheless were happy, though she knew they needed it. She had taken a job a job picking fruit at a local farm, and had climbed into a tree to collect peaches. The branch then snapped under her foot and she fell, crashing into several branches before falling to the ground, and breaking her neck. Despite this, peaches are still her favorite.

Byakuya was born. Even in his life he was a noble of a powerful family. Many attempts were made on his life, and before he was ten he couldn't keep track of all the assassination attempts. He had been killed before his thirteenth birthday, due to poison that had been placed in his soup.

Senna wasn't sure. She had many memories, memories of all the people that had composed her. Although she didn't like to think about it, the death she considered her own was when he step-father bashed a liquor bottle over her head.

Komamura lost a fight. He had been in the forest one day when he had encountered a bear cub, he was about to leave it when the cub's mother attacked him. Instead of running, he had fought, and the price of loosing was his life.

Iba had died during his own sneak attack. For most of his life he had been a low-time thug, often stealing and mugging people. One day he had chose the wrong person to take from, and was surprised when the man shoved a previously hidden dagger into his gut. Iba was then pushed to the ground and left to die.

Renji had been crushed. He, along with several friends, climbed up a cliff that was off limits to all. But he had climbed it regardless, and accidentally dislodged a rock from under his foot and tumbled downwards, causing an avalanche of rocks. When he landed at he bottom, a boulder fell and crushed him.

Nanoa had been careless. She one day was running home in the rain, and had bumped into a man and accidentally cut herself on a hunter's knife he was holding. When she got home she was so tired that she didn't bother to dressed the wound, figuring it would be okay in the morning. The cut later became infected and she died of blood poisoning. This was the only time she was careless in any manner.

Hisagi didn't know why. He had been simply been walking down the street when someone started yelling, he than turned around to see a mad-looking man holding a sickle slicing at people. Hisagi tried to help them, but was cut down when the man threw his weapon at him.

Matsumoto was killed from within. She had one day eaten a piece of questionable meat, the meat in question held the egg of a parasite. Over the next several years this parasite would grow and feed off of her, eventually leaving her so weak that she was unable to move. Her death was slow and numbing, something that almost killed her a second time.

Mosqueda was killed just because. He was attacked from behind and he fell to the ground, he managed to roll onto his back and see his assailant; a local man who had been suspected of murder who killed for the sake of killing. Mosqueda was just another victim.

Yachiru couldn't remember. Whenever she tried to, she would always run short on breath, and felt as though something was pushing on her from all directions. She would then excuse herself and run outside, hoping that the open air would calm her down. She never told anyone that she could also remember a woman softly sobbing.

Ikkaku had died in the cold darkness. He had been traveling the country, one day he noticed that his water jug was empty and had gone to fill it up at a well, he then had slipped and fell into the well. He had tried to escape, but the walls were too wet and slippery to climb out. The hypothermia eventually got to him.

Yumichika drowned. He had been simply walking down a bridge when a large dam up the rive broke apart, unleashing a massive flood. He barely had time to get off the bridge when the flood hit him.

Mayuri was killed because of his ideas. Even in life, Mayuri always thought of things that were outside the imaginations of those around him, and because of this he was feared by the villages to where they thought of him as a monsters. They decided to deal with as a monsters, and broke into his home during the night, killed him in his sleep and burned down his house, and his work along with him.

Grimmjow was framed. He had been a friend with a man who was a murderer, something Grimmjow did not know at the time. One day the friend had been sloppy in a murder and was almost certain he'd be caught, but was able to pin everything on Grimmjow, who was convicted of these crimes and hung.

Rukia became sick. An illness had begun to spread across the country side, an illness that had taken almost half of the population. Both Rukia, and her sister Hisana, had both become terribly sick and had died not long after. Hisana died only minutes after her baby sister.


	15. Feeling in the Wind

-1Fipp: And now for the second arc of the story! In this arc, things happen, people fight, and conversations are spoken! It also shows I have a soft spot for non-canon characters.

I think Soifon and Omaeda are screwed against Barragan's released state (which is awesome).

Autumn Arc: Feeling in the Wind

Ichigo yawned as he stepped out of his division. Fall had come to the Sereitei, making the air crisp and cool, making the captain to want nothing more then to take a nice nap, though the breeze blowing was a bit of a bother since it had been picking up all day.

But dammit, Toshiro had called a meeting and he _had _to come. Being a captain sucked sometimes.

And this headache he had was a killer, which didn't make things any better.

"Ichigo!" Said captain turned around at his name to see Rukia and Grimmjow walking towards him.

"Hey Rukia, Grimmjow," he said, waiting for the two to catch up to him, though Grimmjow grumbled something before walking past him. "What's up with him?" he asked as he and Rukia followed the irate-looking captain.

"He's upset because he finally finished this one report, only to spill ink allover it when the Hell Butterfly appeared," Rukia said. "I wouldn't bother him if I were you. He's probably going to bring that up at the meeting." Rukia sighed, she really hated keeping her captain calm.

"Boy this is going to be really fun," Ichigo said, cringing as he rubbed his head.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's just a headache. Hurt's like a bitch though, I should probably ask Nel or Inoue to keep care of it after the meeting."

"A headache?" Rukia raised an eyebrow. "That's funny, I had one earlier today, nii-sama too, but it didn't last long."

"Both of you? So now it's spreading like the flu now? That's just what I need-AH!" Ichigo clutched his head in pain.

_White and red . . ._

_Hundreds, thousands, a sea of them . . ._

"_Just what the hell are these things?"_

"Ichigo!" Rukia said. "Are you okay?"

"What?" Ichigo asked as he recovered. "Yeah, I'm okay. I guess this headache is just worst then I thought it was."

"Are you sure you'll be able to attend the meeting? Maybe you should head the Fourth and get it checked out."

"No, I'm good enough to attend the meeting. If I don't go, Toshiro's going to chew me out or something."

"Hey! You two!" Grimmjow called at them from ahead of them. "Hurry the fuck up!"

"We'll take how long as we want Grimmjow!"

"Tch, whatever." Grimmjow turned around and walked down the hall.

"Let's go," Ichigo said. Rukia nodded and followed the two captains.

000

Ichigo, Rukia, and Grimmjow eventually were able to make their way to the meeting, only to find the other captains and vice-captains already there.

"See you three finally decided to join us," Hitsugaya said, arms crossed over his chest.

"Sorry we're late Soutaichou," Rukia said with a bow. She then elbowed both Grimmjow and Ichigo in the stomachs, hard, when they didn't bow.

"Sorry!" the two captain said as they bowed, painfully clutching their stomachs.

"That's okay," Hitsugaya said, ignoring the Thirteenth's vice-captain blows to two of his captains. "Just get in line so we can start."

The three nodded and took their places; Grimmjow next to Yachiru while Rukia stood to his left, while Ichigo stepped in-between Ishida and Hinamori.

"Good, now that everybody is here," Hitsugaya said, looking at the twelve other captains, and twelve vice-captains around him, Kuchiki being the only one standing alone, since he hand yet to find a suitable candidate for his empty vice-captain seat since Abarai's promotion to captain of Squad Eight. "We can begin with the meeting. Now, the first thing I would like to bring up is-"

Ichigo sighed. He always hated these meetings, they were always about nothing and they were mostly just repeating things that were either common knowledge around the Sereitei, or he had already known about it from his paperwork. The only time he heard of something new in these meetings was when there was a war or something, and nothing had happened since the Winter War, so mostly these meetings were just boring. He really needed something to kill. Maybe he'd try and provoke Grimmjow, or Renji, hell maybe Kenpachi, into a fight when he had the chance.

"What the hell was that!?" Kenpachi roared.

"Oh nothing, nothing you could understand," Mayuri said offhandedly.

Well Ichigo had to admit that the fights between Kenpachi and Mayuri were always fun to watch. They always managed to-

_Wind, slicing through the white and red . . ._

"_Who the hell is that?"_

"_She's going to release her zanpaktou!"_

"_Who are you?"_

"_My name's Se-"_

Ichigo shook his head again. When would this meeting be over? This headache was really killing him. It had only just started, so he would be in here for a while-

"_You can't just going around stealing things baka!"_

"_Everything seems so much more simple from so high up."_

"_Urahara-san, can a shinigami remember their old lives?"_

"_I just wanted his last moments to be something happy."_

"_We have orders to capture the Shinenju."_

"_No! I won't let you take Sen-"_

Ichigo slightly wavered in his place, accidentally bumping into Ishida, who shot him an annoyed look.

"Watch how you stand Kurosaki," Ishida hissed, still trying to pay attention to what Hitsugaya had said.

"Uh, sorry," he said, his head throbbing in pain.

"Are you okay taichou?" Hinamori whispered.

"Yeah, I'm okay, just pay attention," Ichigo said. Hinamori gave a doubtful look towards Ichigo before turning her attention forward.

Ichigo closed his eyes, now suddenly feeling very lightheaded. Please, just let this meeting end already.

_The wind flew through his hair and flowing black robes as he dashed through the sky, the black sword in his grip. He swung the sword-_

_Only to meet pain in his stomach, looking down he saw a bladed spear shoving right into his body, blood poring from the heavy wound. He still reached forward, but only grabbed a red silk ribbon as he plummeted to the ground._

"_ICHIGO!" he heard, before seeing the dark figures vanish as the ones in white cloaks gave chase._

Ichigo found the world spinning around him, and the floor coming closer to his face. No wait, the floor wasn't coming towards his face, he was falling. That explained some things.

He then hit the floor, face first. He heard some people call out his name-given name, surname, and official title-but he couldn't distinguish who was calling him due to all the voices sounding hallow, and muffled.

"Huh?" he asked, his vision now too blurry to make any one person out. "S-S-Sen-," he said, before passing out.

Please review

Mrfipp


	16. Recurring Images

-1Fipp: It seems that some of you were a little displeased with the previous chapter, but just so you know, this isn't a romance story, so I'm not going to overdo fluff for ANY pairing, though there will be several subtle moments if I think it fits, such as Ichiruki, Ishihime, Hitsuhina, and possibly Kiramatsu and Grimmnel.

There will be no Ichisenn, at best it'll be friendship between the two.

Autumn Arc: Recurring Images

"_There it is! The river!"_

"_Don't worry, I'm coming."_

"_She is simply nothing more then a composure of memories."_

000

Nel scratched her head in frustration at being unable to figure out just what was wrong with Ichigo.

He just simply collapsed at the meeting, just falling forward and lost consciousness. From what she had gathered, Rukia had told her that Ichigo had complained about a headache earlier in the day, and Momo and Uryu had said that he seemed unfocused, and kept wavering where he stood. From what she could gather, he may have had a severe migraine, so she had applied every medical treatment she, and Inoue, could think of.

But dammit! He still wouldn't wake up. Just what was wrong with him?

"Oderschvank-taichou?" Nel turned towards the door of the room to see Rukia poke her head in.

"Oh, hello Rukia, and you can call me Nel, or Neliel you know." Nel found it annoying when her close friends addressed her so formally.

"Um, sorry," Rukia said as she walked in. "Have you found out what happened to Ichigo?"

Nel sighed before looking back to Ichigo, who was lying in the hospital bed. "I'm sorry, but I can't find anything wrong with him." She gave an annoyed grunt. "This is so frustrating. I've gone over every inch of him with kido and I don't see any reason why he could be like this! He's perfectly healthy by shinigami standards"

"What about, the hollow?" Rukia hesitantly asked. "Could it have something to so with this?"

Nel shook her head. "No, that was my first theory after I had eliminated some of the more simple possible causes, but it's locked up just as tightly as before. Also, it only manifests by itself when Ichigo finds himself on the verge of death, and there haven't been any battles to fight in the Sereitei in a long while."

"Then what's going on with him?"

"I'm sorry Rukia, but I can't find any reason for his sudden collapse."

"But," Rukia said, but stopped when she decided that arguing would do nothing for Ichigo.

She was then distracted by a leaf landing on Ichigo's bed. Rukia then looked up to see the window open, and that the wind outside was blowing a number of leaves around. She picked the leaf up and walked towards the window, only to drop the leaf outside, where the wind picked it up and carried it away.

"It's nice outside," she said.

"I know," Nel replied.

"The last time I saw an autumn like this was when I was in the World of the Living a long time ago. It was-" Rukia gasped, her eyes widening.

"Rukia? Are you alright?"

"Uh, um, yeah." Rukia shook her head. "It's nothing." Rukia began to walk towards the door. "I'm sorry, but I just remembered I have something important to do."

"Huh? But what about-"

Rukia slammed the door shut before Nel could finish her sentence.

000

"_She would have died simply as memories, but now that you have interrupted the process, she will feel pain!" the man said as he, and the others, stood in front of the tree-like structure._

"_What? We came to help. It'd suck if Soul Society blew up," Kenpachi said._

_The hornet fought the arrows. The beast fought the knives. The dragon fought the missiles. The baboon fought the hammer. The white moon and petals fought the flying blades._

"_To go in, day in, and day out! Going through the Dangai Precipice World, wondering if we would survive the day! Then we came here, the Valley of Screams, and we found the Blanks, and that we could use them as a power source. We will get out revenge on Soul Society with the Blanks and the Shinenju!"_

_The sword and spear clashed against each other, causing the adrenaline to pump through his veins, until he had managed to cut him down._

"_You're awfully quiet," he said to the person trapped in the tree-like structure._

000

Rukia walked down the halls of one of the divisions, she really wasn't too such which one though, she was too lost in her own thoughts to really pay attention to anything.

'_How could I have forgotten something like that?' _she asked herself. _'After all this time that has passed? What has changed since then? Why are these thoughts returning? I can't just ask about it, I highly doubt any of the others, Renji, Ishida, Sado, Inoue, the captains, that they'd remember. This was more personal to Ichigo, and I knew what was going on as well.'_

Rukia shook her head in confusion, what was she going to do about this?

She then stopped in her steps, realizing something important.

'_Just WHY am I remembering these things now?'_

000

"_We're too late! The worlds are collapsing!"_

"_Don't worry, I can do this. I can't imagine a world without you!"_

"_This one, right?" _

"_Yeah, the one of the left. It should say my name on it."_

_It had names, just not the right one._

"_Do-do you see it?"_

_No._

"_Yeah, it's there, plain as day."_

"_I'm so happy."_

_The weight on his back began to feel much lighter, before it vanished completely. He then fell to his hands and knees._

"_The Blanks are vanishing," said the voice of the petite shinigami from behind, "and with them, our memory of what happened."_

"_But, until them we'll remember, won't we?"_

"_Yes, yes we will."_

000

Nel sighed, looking at Ichigo's chart.

"Just what is wrong with you I wonder?" he asked, kneeling next to his head. "I'd give my right horn to know what is going on."

It was at that moment Ichigo shot up, causing Nel to scream in surprise.

"AAAHH!" she went, before realizing that Ichigo was conscious. "Ichigo? Ichigo!" She then noticed his heavy breathing, his face buried in his hands. "Ichigo? Are you okay?"

"I failed," he said.

"Huh? What do you mean failed? What did you fail at?"

"I couldn't do anything to save her."

"Save who?"

Ichigo turned to Nel with sad eyes. "Senna."

000

Everything was dark.

Light poured in through the person's eyelids.

The person saw the bright blue sky. They turned their head to the left and saw a large city in the distance.

That could be an interesting place to go.

Please review

Mrfipp


	17. Nobody Knows

-1Fipp: The anime is coming dangerously close to overlapping the manga. I hope it doesn't begin to veer off the plot, like the Hellsing and Soul Eater animes did.

Autumn Arc: Nobody Knows

"I will not beg."

"No one said you had too, and the answer is still no."

"Now how will I able to learn anything if you don't allow me to perform my experiments?"

"You're not slicing Ichigo up," Nel replied to Mayuri from her desk as she signed her name on several documents.

"I'll try not to cause him too much discomfort," Mayuri said. The captain had once again changed his mask and hat: a vertical black stripe down from his forehead to his chin with a horizontal one over his eyes, while the hat resembled a pair of black and blue demon horns that reached his shoulders.

"No."

"You really are being quite stubborn, aren't you? But aren't you curious as to what has happened?" Mayuri then began to clench and unclench his fingers in excitement. "For over eighty years, everyone had forgotten the events of the Blanks and the Shinjuku, and now out of the blue, people remember it!"

"I wouldn't call it out of the blue."

After Ichigo had woken up, Nel had to report what had happen to Hitsugaya, who to his own surprise began to remember certain details about the events that happened. The Soutaichou then called for a meeting, and once told the others about this, the ones who were involved began to recall as well.

"Well, maybe not like that, but people remember! I now suddenly recall the rift in the sky between the Living World and the Soul Society and the research I did on the Valley of Screams. I was even able to relocate several data files that I must have hidden long ago on the subject!"

Nel grumbled in annoyance. "But why do you want Ichigo?"

"Simple: He had the most exposure to the Shinjuku, more than anyone, and his reaction to the remembrance was by far the most extreme."

"Still no."

Mayuri growled before turning away to head back to his own division. "I don't even see why I waste my time."

"Kurotsuchi," Nel said, causing the captain to turn around. "What did happen all those years ago? I only know some bits from what other people have told me, but it's not enough information to really tell me what had happened."

"Don't ask me, I had very little to do with the whole thing, I merely did research on the Valley's destruction and that is it. If you want to know more, then why don't you ask Kurosaki?" Mayuri turned down the hall and vanished.

Nel sighed. "I wish I could."

"Oderschvank-taichou!" The captain looked up to see Hanatarou running through her office door, almost tripping on his own feet when he entered the threshold. "Oderschvank-taichou!" He stopped in front of Nel and gave a bow.

"Yes, what is it?"

"It's Kurosaki-taichou! He's gone!"

"Gone? Was the window open?" she asked, remembering her days as Ichigo's Third Seat.

"Hai."

"Damn."

000

Rukia walked up a case of stone stairs that were built into the hill were she was almost executed long ago, though her destination was not the execution grounds, but the secret training field built into it by Urahara even longer ago. She walked up to the simple wooden door, entered the dark room and climbed down the ladder to the large rocky training ground that held a hot spring of healing water in it.

Ichigo had told her of this place shortly after the War, that it was the place that Yoruichi had taught him how to properly utilize shunpo, and where he learned Bankai in order for him her later fight against her brother. It was also here that Ichigo helped her learn her own Bankai only a little more then a year ago.

She wasn't surprised to see Ichigo sitting on one of the larger rocks, laying against his zanpaktou.

"Ichigo," she said, when she had gotten close enough to him.

"Hey," he said, not looking at her.

She bit her lip at the tone of voice. She hated that voice. Ichigo always got like this when he felt he had failed at something, at protecting his friends, and became this self-pitying, depressed thing. The first time had gotten him out of him, she had bashed him in the head and told him to cut down a hollow.

But this time she more difficulty thinking of how to help. The first time she told him to get stronger protect his friends, but how could he protect someone who no longer existed.

Still not entirely sure of what to do, Rukia took a seat next to him.

"I remember the whole thing," she said.

"I know. So do I."

"You know," she said, placing her hand atop his. "you're not a failure."

"I know."

"She made her own choice in the end."

"I know that too."

"You don't blame yourself, do you?"

". . ."

"Ichigo?"

"I still feel as though there was more I could have done."

"I know Ichigo, I know."

"Why am I remembering her now?"

"I don't know Ichigo."

"You would have liked her, if you got to know her more."

Rukia softly smiled. "I would have liked to know her too, anyone who can put up with you for too long can't be that bad."

Ichigo gave a soft chuckle.

000

"Come on! Is that all you got!" Ikkaku yelled as he swung his sword forward, only for it to be blocked by Yachiru, who then pushed him back and sliced at his chest, causing bleeding cuts to appear. "Dammit!"

"What?" Yachiru grinned. "Am I getting too good to face you in a fair fight, Baldy?"

A vein appeared on Ikkaku's (shiny) head. "That's it!" The Third Seat charged at Yachiru, who quickly raised her blade in front of her, ready to strike.

"Grow! Hozukimaru!" Ikkaku cried, slamming his blade's hilt into its sheath, creating its spear-Shikai. He swung the weapon, barely missing Yachiru who quickly jumped back, placing her empty hand on the flat side of the blade.

"Maul, Yamaneko!" (1) Yachiru called out, pulling her hand away. The blade separated, becoming two separate weapons: Two claws, one on each hand, three blades each with the two outside blades reaching eight inches, while the middle one was ten. She quickly jumped at Ikkaku and swung her claws at him, only for him to block her with the spear before throwing her back.

She then quickly landed on her feet and rushed forward and made for a stab, but Ikkaku spilt Hozukimaru into its separated form and swung it, but Yachiru quickly ducked beneath it and stabbed at the chain, hooking the blade into one of the chain links, then began to pull it towards her, as well as Ikkaku, whom she then sliced across the chest before kicking him in the chest and sending him back.

"Dammit," Ikkaku cursed through gritted teeth, ignoring the bleeding. It wasn't anything major, but it still hurt like a bitch.

"I think your getting to old," Yachiru delightfully teased, scratching the side of her head with one of the claws.

Ikkaku only growled before grabbing his spear in both hands. He was about to charge the girl when he stopped in his tracks. "What the hell?" he said, looking past Yachiru.

"What is it?" Yachiru asked before turning around. She gasped at what began to attack them.

(1) Wildcat.

Please review

Mrfipp


	18. Nothing Does Return

-1Fipp: Okay, chapter 359 just came out, and the anime has just covered 329, and 330. Which means in about fifteen episodes, I think, the anime will overlap the manga. Which means, unless the series ends in that time, there are going to be a number of fillers soon.

Autumn Arc: Nothing Does Return

Jidanbo sighed.

There was nothing for him to do other than open the door and close it, not since the Bounts attacked so long ago.

He wished he had something to do.

"Hello!" cried a voice from below, causing the giant to look down at the person. "Hi there! You mind lifting the gate for me?"

"Hm," he said, "it's odd, while you are dressed like a shinigami, the only people I am allowed to open this door for, I do not recognize your face. Are you a new recruit?"

The person huffed. "No, I'm not a recruit, technically, but I know a shinigami! Can you open the door now?"

"That would depend on who this person who know is."

"The substitute-shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo. I'm a friend of his."

"What?" Jidanbo raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you are a friend of him?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo is captain of Squad Five, and he hasn't been a substitute in nearly eighty years. I figured a friend of his would know that."

The person didn't respond, a shocked expression on their face. "Eighty years?" they asked.

"Are you okay?" Jidanbo asked. "Would you like me to send for Kurosaki-taichou?"

"Yeah, whatever," the person sadly said.

000

It was several hours later when Ichigo and Rukia exited the training area and made their way down the cliff-side path.

She stayed with him, made sure he was alright, the kinds of things she normally did. He was doing better now; he had insulted her height and she hit him for it.

They both heard a chime ring through the air and looked upwards to see a Hell Butterfly fluttering towards them.

"What do you think it wants?" Ichigo asked, holding his hand out.

'_Kurosaki-taichou,' _the message said. _'Please report to the First Division at once. Hitsugaya-soutaichou would like to speak with you.'_

"Look's like Toshiro wants me for some reason. Better get going. See ya later Rukia," Ichigo waved before using shunpo to vanish.

"See you later too Ichigo," Rukia replied. The wind then blew, sending a cold shiver down her spine. "I have a very bad feeling about something," she said as she looked towards the Sereitei.

000

"So there it is, the anchor. I guess I should send them there instead of having them to deal with these unimportant shinigami."

000

"Where the hell are they?" Abarai Renji asked, tapping his foot against the ground. He was supposed to meet Ikkaku and Yachiru here for lunch, and they were late. Later then usual that is. "That's it! I'm looking for them! Ise-san only gives me so much time for lunch before she begins to hunt me down."

The captain of Squad Eight than began to make his way to the Squad Eleven training grounds, where he knew where they would be.

He was thinking of ways to hurt them when a number of dark figures rushed around the corner and flew past him, knocking him down onto his back. "Dammit!" he cursed. "What where you're going you-" he turned around to yell at the figures, some dumb rookies maybe, but they had all vanished. Renji growled in annoyance. "Stupid noobies," he said as he got up, getting the dust off his haori.

"Where'd they go?"

"I think they went this way!"

Renji raised an eyebrow and looked around the corner, only to collide with Ikkaku and Yachiru.

"Why the hell doesn't anyone look where they're going?!" the redhead yelled.

"Where'd they go?" Yachiru asked, looking around. "We were right being them!"

"Damn it Renji," Ikkaku growled. "You made us loose them!"

"Huh?" Renji asked. "Loose who?"

"We're not really sure, Fukutaichou and I were sparring when we were attacked by these things."

"You were attacked? By who?"

"We don't know," Yachiru shook her head. "They didn't look human, and they didn't look like Hallows. We killed a few of them before they just went rushing away, we tried to chase them but Baldy lost them.

"For the last time I didn't-"

"What did these things look like?" Renji interrupted Ikkaku.

"You remember those Blank things?"

000

Ichigo shunpoed to the entrance of the First Division, the large gates with the single horizontal line clearly labeling his location.

"Just what does Toshiro want I wonder?" He gave a moment's though as he began to walk through the courtyard. "Probably about me escaping from the Fourth." Ichigo shuddered, Nel really didn't like it when people just up and left without her knowing. "I hope not."

"Ah, you've arrived Kurosaki-taichou." Ichigo turned around to see Hitsugaya's vice-captain, Sasakibe, walking towards him. "Hitsugaya-soutaichou has been waiting for you."

"Okay then. Hey, do you know just why he wants to see me?"

"I am sorry, but I do not know," the vice-captain shook his head and began to walk back to the division, prompting Ichigo to follow. "Though, he was talking to someone when he sent for you."

"Talking to someone? Who?"

"I am not sure what her name is, I do know it is a young women."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, just who was this person? All the other women he knew, Inoue, Nel, Hinamori, Matsumoto and Yachiru would have contacted him personally, while some of the others he didn't know as well, like Nanoa, Soifon and Nemu, would have sent a Hell Butterfly to him. "Not sure huh?"

"No."

Ichigo sighed.

They were about to reach the door at the end of the courtyard when Ichigo sensed something suddenly appear behind him, and quickly jump at him. Ichigo quickly spun around and pulled Zangetsu off his back and threw it in front of him, having the large zanpaktou act as a shield, while Sasakibe quickly drew his own sword.

Ichigo's eyes widened at the attacker as it pushed him back, while more of them suddenly appeared.

"Kurosaki-taichou!" Sasakibe called out, slicing at one of the enemies before raising his zanpaktou in front of him. "Pierce, Gonryomaru!" The blade glowed before turning into a rapier-like blade, which was then used to skewer one of the enemies right through their middle. "Kurosaki-taichou!"

Ichigo didn't really hear him, his attention was stuck on the creatures in front of him. "No way," he said, eyes wide open. "Blanks, no wait, these are different." It was true, unlike the Blanks that had appeared so many years ago, the Blanks, instead of being white, were colored black, but still maintained the red hands and pixie-hats. The captain jumped back as one of them pushed back on his sword just before it clawed at him.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo shouted and swung his blade, sending an arc of light forward, destroying a mass of these odd Blanks, thought that didn't seem to appear to shorten their numbers. "Dammit, just what these things?"

He sliced again at them, his mind troubled by their appearance: Why were these things appearing now, just as he was remembering these things now? Now of all times? Why were they here just as he was remembering-

"Call forth the Twilight." Ichigo froze in mid-step at hearing the command. No, it couldn't be, how could it be? "Mirokumaru!"

The wind then began to heavily blow as a twister blew through the pseudo-Blanks, the powerful gales ripping through them and sending them into oblivion, soon clearing the courtyard of them. Ichigo's eyes widened as a figure dropped in front of him and Sasakibe.

"That's the woman Hitsugaya-soutaichou was speaking with," the vice-captain said.

"But, but that's," Ichigo said, unable to finish his words.

The woman spun her staff around in circles before she slung it over her shoulder, then turned around to meet Ichigo and Sasakibe. Her face brightened up at their sight.

"Ichigo!" she waved.

"Senna."

Please review

Mrfipp


	19. Answer Needed

Fipp: I liked Soifon's Bankai simply because big boom make me happy.

Autumn Arc: Answer Needed

"Hi Ichigo!" Senna waved.

"Senna," Ichigo said in shock, so much he didn't notice Senna run right up to him and picked up the tail of his haori.

"Wow, nice material," she said, fingering the cloak. "What is it? Silk?

"Huh?" Ichigo spun around. "Just-wait-but-aren't you-isn't-" Ichigo grabbed his head in frustration. What the hell is going on?! His thoughts were interrupted by Senna, who wrapped her arms around Ichigo in a hug, causing a look of surprise on his face.

"It's good to see you again," Senna said.

Ichigo's features softened. "Same here, but, how are you back?"

"Kurosaki." Both Ichigo and Senna pulled away from each other and turned around.

"Hitsugaya-soutaichou," Sasakibe said as the white-haired captain approached them.

"Toshiro," Ichigo said, causing Hitsugaya irritation.

"It's Hitsugaya-soutaichou," he growled, "just how many more years do you have to work under me before you realize that?" He then muttered something that sounded like a curse under his breath, which Ichigo knew was directed at him. "I see you've already met Senna."

"Uh, yeah, about that," Ichigo took a deep breath, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" Ichigo pointed at Senna, and around the courtyard, where the pseudo-Blanks were minutes ago. "First, after eighty years I remember all that stuff that happened with the Blanks, Dark Ones, and Senna, then I'm attacked by black Blanks, then Senna shows up! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Sasakibe," Hitsugaya said, catching his vice-captain's attention. "Please send a Hell Butterfly to all captains and vice-captains and inform then of an emergency meeting at once."

"Hai," Sasakibe said, before vanishing in a burst of shunpo.

"Kurosaki-taichou," Hitsugaya said. "Senna's told me some things that we should discuss at once."

"Like what?"

"We'll discuss it at the meeting," Hitsugaya said, before leaving the two of them alone.

"Dammit," Ichigo cursed.

"So," Senna sadly said. "You forgot about me, huh?"

"Senna," Ichigo said, turning around to face the girl. "I'm sorry, but-"

"That's okay," Senna said, wide grin on her face. "Hitsugaya already explained all that, and it doesn't matter. All that matters is the here and now, right?"

Ichigo gave this a moments thought before nodding. "Right, the here and now."

"Right! Now, show me where's this meeting is going to take place, I was told to come too."

000

"Wait, what?" Grimmjow asked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Thirty minutes after the message was sent, the other captains and vice-captains gathered in the meeting halls and now stood in their respective spots, while Senna stood in the middle of the room.

Hitsugaya sighed before he began to explain again. "Eighty years ago, shortly after Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tousen defected from Soul Society and fled to Hueco Mundo, Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia, who were a substitute-shinigami and unseated officer respectively, encountered odd entities of unknown origin while on a hollow patrol.

"These creatures, known as Blanks, were quickly destroyed by Senna," Hitsugaya gestured to the girl, causing everyone to turn their attention towards her. Senna nervously waved at them. "Kuchiki then reported back to us to disclose on what she encountered, meanwhile, Kurosaki took it upon himself to watch over her. Some point after, they were attacked by a group of unknown assailants.

"After that, several captains and vice-captains, including myself, had gone to the World of the Living in order to extract Senna, who we learned was a being called the Shinjuku."

"Shinjuku?" Nel asked. "What's that?"

"As you know," Hitsugaya continued, "when a human dies, they either become a soul, and make their way to Soul Society, or a hollow, and go to Hueco Mundo. Blanks, are souls who for some reason loose their way in the transition cycle, and loose all their memories, not just the ones of their previous life, but the ones that made up who they were.

"These souls, the Blanks, gather, and over time come together and create a new entity, similar to the evolution of Menos Grande, called the Shinjuku, in this case, Senna."

"What happened?" Mosqueda asked.

"We were about to bring Senna back to Soul Society when the assailants, a group who were banished from Soul Society many years ago, were able to take her before we could do anything."

"Why'd they do that?" Grimmjow asked.

"They planned on using Senna's control over the Blanks to destroy not only Soul Society, but the Living World as well. Yamamoto, in order to prevent this from happening, had loaded the Kido Cannon to destroy the dimension that they resided in, the Valley of Screams.

"Kurosaki then rushed into the Valley in order to defeat the Dark Ones, and save Senna. Soifon-taichou, Kira-taichou, Kuchiki-taichou, Abarai-taichou, Tetsuzaemon-fukutaichou, Hisagi-taichou, Matsumoto-taichou, Zaraki-taichou, Kusajishi-fukutaichou, Third Seat Madarame, Fifth Seat Ayasegawa, Kuchiki-fukutaichou, and myself went to assist him.

"Though the Dark Ones were ultimately defeated, their plan had been to far advanced to stop, and thus the Kido Cannon was fired, which might have caused great damage to both worlds, but Senna used to Blanks to prevent the destruction, but this had ended up draining her of her strength, causing her to fade from existence, and with her, our memories of everything that had happened."

"That still doesn't explain exactly why she's returned," Hisagi said, before turning to Senna. "Do you have any idea?"

"No," Senna shook her head. "The last thing I remember was being in the graveyard with Ichigo, then things got real light and fuzzy, I don't remember anything after that. The only thing I recall after that was waking up in some forest, then I spent the next few days walking towards the city where I met that big guy, and ta-da, I'm here!"

"That's all?" Kira asked.

"Yup, that's about it," Senna shrugged.

"Upon hearing Senna's side of the story," Hitsugaya said, "I asked Kurostuchi-taichou to try and find out as to why this had happened. Kurostuchi-taichou,"

"Hai," Mayuri said, stepping forward. "Although this was rushed, I do believe that I have found a reasonable explanation as too why the Shinjuku has reappeared after so many years of absence.

"Souls cannot not be forever lost, even the one who are consumed by Hollows, these souls remain in the Hollow, and the Hollows that eat those Hollows, and come to Soul Society when the hollows are killed. This was proven shortly after the Winter War, when the Espada were killed, the souls they harbored overran this world." Several people in the room, Hitsugaya, Soifon, Omaeda, Ishida, Renji, Sado, Rukia and Ichigo, grimaced, remembering how 'well' they preformed during their Espada battles.

"What does any of that have to do with Senna?" Ichigo asked, irritated at the scientific captain.

"I'm getting there," Mayuri waved Ichigo off, causing further irritation. "The same would apply to the Blanks as well, that after her body dissipated, the dominant soul, the one that makes up her appearance and mannerisms, merely undid itself, and during the years, the Blanks simply reformed and recreated her.

"This caused the memories of everything that had happened to return to everyone, and Kurosaki, having the most to do with those events, suffered massive cranial pains as a result from the massive flux of memories that returned."

The other captains took notice to his flexing fingers, something that happened when he got excited about something.

"Thank you for that Kurostuchi-taichou," Hitsugaya said. Mayuri nodded and stepped back in line.

"So the gist of this whole thing is," Kenpachi said, "that this girl just appeared out of nowhere. If there's nothing left I'm just gonna leave." Kenpachi made to leave the room when Yachiru grabbed onto his sleeve.

"Actually," she said to the room, "we still have to talk about those things that attacked Ikkaku and me."

"You guys were attacked?" Ichigo asked, taking notice of the bandages covering recent injuries.

"Yes they were," Hitsugaya answered. "Kusajishi-fukutaichou, as well and Third Seat Madarame, were attacked by the same creatures that attacked you and Sasakibe-fukutaichou outside the First Division, these creatures were also spotted by Abarai-taichou."

"Those Blank-things!" Ichigo called out.

"Yes, for those of you that recall, the Blanks were white creatures with pink, cone-shaped head."

"The pixie-hats!" Senna pointed out.

"Yes, the pixie-hats, but these creatures, instead of being white, were black."

"Just what were they doing attacking people?" Ishida asked.

"That we don't know, but we can say with confidence that Senna's sudden appearance has something to do with it."

"What are you suggesting we do then?" Komamura asked.

"Until we know exactly what is going on, I order that Senna be placed in the protection of one of our squads."

"I would be more then happy to do that," Mayuri said.

"Like hell you will," Ichigo growled. "You probably just want to dissect her up!"

"Wait, what? Dissect?" Senna went very pale.

Hitsugaya sighed. "Senna will be placed under the protection of Squad Five, under the care of Kurosaki-taichou."

"I very much appreciate that," Senna said, inching away from Mayuri.

"Soutaichou," Byakuya said. "After all is said and done, and if we never encounter these black Blanks again, then what is to become of the girl?"

"That has yet to be determined, though what she wants to do is up to her."

"Could you guys stop talking like I'm not here!" Senna called out. "I mean it's really annoying. Also, I figured out what'd I'd like to do."

"You did?"

"Yup! I figured I might try and join this club-thing you guys got going on since I got nothing else to do."

"Join the Gotei 13?" Ichigo asked.

"Why not, seems like fun," Senna shrugged.

"Very well," Hitsugaya said. "After we make sure that everything involving these new Blanks is cleared, I will see what I can do about introducing you into a squad. Anymore questions?"

No one asked anything.

"Good, meeting adjourned."

Please review

Mrfipp


	20. The Winding Interlude

Fipp: Stark's release method is certainly an interesting concept, I just can't wait to see what he can do.

Next battle: Guns vs. Swords! The wolf against the winds! (this make a good anime episode title)

Autumn Arc: The Winding Interlude

It had been several weeks since Ichigo's massive headache, since the pseudo-Blanks attack Ikkaku, Yachiru, Sasakibe and Ichigo, since Senna had appeared and was placed under to protection of the Gotei 13.

During this time, Senna had taken it upon herself to discover as much about the Sereitei as she possibly could, much to the annoyance of Ichigo, who was often left to explain to Hitsugaya on how she kept escaping.

She had managed to discover a good deal of the city, and met many various squad members, such as Ichigo's friends, and was able to make friends with them, causing her to be well liked amongst the thirteen squads, though she avoided the Twelfth since it was clear Mayuri still wished to dissect her.

She was still trying to convince Hitsugaya to allow her a seated position in now of the squads, but the soutaichou refused each time, claming that even though the pseudo-Blanks had not yet appeared since their initial attack, it was still to dangerous to allow her membership into any squad.

Since Senna appeared, Rukia had offered Senna a room at the Kuchiki manor, something she, and Ichigo, had appreciated. She often spent her times not wandering around the Sereitei, by wandering around the Kuchiki grounds.

"Hey Rukia!" Senna waved to the shinigami, who was carrying a large amount of papers. "Looks like someone brought work home with them," she said, looking over Rukia's shoulders.

"Hai," Rukia answered as she, and Senna, walked down the hall to her home office. "My Squad was flooded with paper today, so I had to bring some home with me."

"I thought Ichigo said something about not bringing work home with you."

"I know, but still-"

"How about I help?!"

"Huh?"

"Come on! I want to do something as a sort of 'thank you' for letting me stay and all"

"Well, okay then," Rukia said.

About an hour later, Rukia and Senna manage to get through the work, much faster then Rukia and originally thought. The moment the brushes were put down, Senna asked Rukia where one of her favorite people in the mansion was.

000

Kuchiki Byakuya enjoyed the strolls he took around the garden. They were spacious enough so that he could avoid anyone else that happened to be walking around the gardens, to allow him peace of mind.

"Hi Byakuya-taichou!"

Most of the time, that is. Though, since Senna showed up, he found that his peace time had been growing less and less.

"How many times have I told you to address in a formal manner?" he asked, not even bothering to look up at Senna, who was precariously balancing atop the ivy walls on one foot.

"Seventy-two times I think," she said, switching feet.

"Then why do you keep calling me that?"

"Not entirely sure," she shrugged. "Hey, does most of the Sereitei look like one giant maze? I mean, almost the whole thing is filled with walls that are built in random directions."

It often made Byakuya wonder why people wanted to talk to him and start idle conversations. Ichimaru would often stop him in the halls and begin to talk about nothing in general, and would even follow him if he tried to walk away. Oderschvank-taichou would also bring up random conversations as well, though thankfully, her conversations would eventually lead to something intellectual, topics that Byakuya could get behind, and she would stop when he walked away.

Then there was Yoruichi . . .

Byakuya felt he didn't need to expand on that subject.

Blasted demon were-cat.

The conversations Senna started though were just as random as what Ichimaru started, but unlike the former captain, who could talk about anything from the workings of human society to pill bugs, Senna's often were more focused around the Soul Society, the squads and things of such manners.

As much as he hated to admit it, he had unfortunately taken a liking to the girl. To an extent, the girl reminded him of Hisana, who like Senna, remembered her previous life, and if there was any one thing he could recall, is that a soul remembering their past life was certainly no small burden, so, he allowed Senna a bit of leniency in some areas.

"Hey, Byakuya-taichou," at least she added 'taichou' to his name, showing some respect, unlike Kurosaki, "wanna give me some tips on shunpo? If not then what about kido?"

"No."

Another thing that Senna would bring up was shinigami arts. She would often ask Byakuya to help her in various aspects to convince Hitsugaya to become a full-fledged shinigami. Though Kurosaki, along with Rukia, were helping in her studies, she would go seek assistance from other people, to become exposed to multiple styles of teaching.

"Come on! Why not?"

"I do not have enough time to allow me teaching you how to prefect your various skills."

"Oh come on," Senna jumped down from the wall and landed next to the captain.

Byakuya's answer was too simply walk away from Senna and began to heads towards the manor. He was close to the door when he stopped in his tracks. "There is a book in the archives that assisted me in kido as a child, I suggest you pick it up if you would like to increase your skills in kido." Byakuya then walked into the house.

"Thank you," Senna said before walking towards the Kuchiki's library.

000

"Hi Soutaichou!" Hitsugaya sighed before turning around to see Matsumoto waving at him from the parallel breezeway. The other captain then used shunpo and appeared right next to her former captain.

"Matsumoto," Hitsugaya said as he continued his walk, and Matsumoto followed. "What brings you here?"

"Actually, I was just walking through, you know, just enjoying the air and such."

"Is that so? Nothing else?" Hitsugaya asked suspiciously.

"Nope, not a thing," Matsumoto replied nervously.

"So, you're not trying to evade the paperwork that Mosqueda told me you have yet to do, are you?"

"What? Um, no, I mean I was going to do some, but I uh, um." Matsumoto resorted to biting her fingernail. Luckily, she was able to find a change of subject. "Hey, how come you won't let Senna-chan in the Gotei 13? I mean, she's a perfectly capable shinigami, a Third Seat at least."

"I know that Matsumoto, but she should be kept under surveillance until we figure out who sent those Blanks." Hitsugaya stopped in his tracks. Matsumoto did so as well. "Tell me, now that Senna reappeared, do you remember what happened the last time she was here?"

"I do." Of course she remembered; she had gone with Hitsugaya to check out the off reiatsu in the area, came back again to collect Senna, then finally went to the Valley of Screams to assist Ichigo in Senna's rescue. While she had fought a number of Blanks with the assistance of several other vice-captains, Hitsugaya had killed one of the Dark Ones, the missile-wielder. "The Living World and Soul Society were almost destroyed."

"Yes, and Senna stopped that from happening. She has a lot of latent power, and if whoever sent them gets their hands on her could cause us a lot of trouble."

"Then what are we going to do about her?"

"We wait to see what happens. It's all we can do," Hitsugaya solemnly said, folding his arms over his chest.

"Hm,"

. . .

"Taichou!" Matsumoto froze at the voice.

"Sorry but I've go to go see ya!" she said quickly before she left with shunpo.

Hitsugaya sighed, knowing that an afro-sporting arrancar turned the corner before the said arrancar actually did. "Hello there Mosqueda-fukutaichou."

"Hitsugaya-soutaichou," Mosqueda bowed. "Do you have any chance know-"

"That way." The white-haired man pointed his thumb backwards. "I'd hurry up if I were you though, every moment she isn't doing real work, is a moment she thinks up more excuses not to do it."

"Thank you sir." Mosqueda said before using soindo to chase after his captain.

"Sometime I wonder why I let her be a captain," Hitsugaya said to the empty breezeway, shaking his head.

000

Senna looked around, making sure that no one was around, and thankfully, no one was.

She knew she shouldn't be doing this, leaving the Sereitei, but she couldn't help it, the doubt from entering her mind. She just had to know.

It wasn't that she didn't trust what Ichigo had said-she did, trusted him with her life-but she couldn't let this go. She just had to know.

She double checked to see if she was alone, and she was, before entering the Kuchiki family's private Senkaimon with a Hell Butterfly at her heel.

Please review

Mrfipp


	21. The Missing Name

Fipp: Two things are official now. 1) Starrk now belongs in the Soul Eater manga. 2) I am officially a high school graduate! Yeah for me!

Autumn Arc: The Missing Name

"When I find her, I'll kill her," Ichigo said as he stomped through the halls of the Kuchiki Manor in search of Senna, who was supposed to meet him and Hinamori several hours ago. So, Ichigo has spent since then looking allover the Sereitei for her.

It wasn't until five minutes ago though had the though occurred to him that he should look in her room.

Hinamori had then commented that that would have been the first place she would have looked, and said she was curious on how Ichigo became a captain in the first place. Ichigo growled in annoyance.

"You really aren't good at looking after people in your care, are you?" asked Rukia, who was acting as Ichigo's escort. Apparently, Byakuya didn't like it when Ichigo was left to wander then mansion unsupervised. Ichigo kind of agreed with this, mostly because he would, more often than not, break something when he came to visit. Something that cost a lot of money. More money then he, a captain, made in a year.

"Shut up," Ichigo growled at the shorter shinigami, who simply laughed at his situation.

"You're going to get in trouble with Soutaichou again if you keep loosing Senna."

"I'd like to see him watch over her," Ichigo mumbled under his breath. "When she wants to go somewhere, it's almost impossible to keep her in one place."

"Now you know how I feel from all the times I told you to stay still."

"Like hell I'd listen to you. Damn midget."

"What was that?" Rukia growled.

"Nothing, nothing."

"That's better." Rukia thought for a moment. "I wonder where she went though, no one's seen her all day."

Like various people, Rukia had especially taken a liken to Senna, especially since to two of them would often gang up on Ichigo when throwing insults at him while all he could do was simply complain that two-on-one was unfair.

"Then where'd she go?" he asked.

"I don't know," Rukia said. The two shinigami stopped in front of a door, which Rukia knocked on. "Senna? Are you in there?" When she got no reply she knocked again. "Senna?" Still no reply.

Ichigo then pounded on the door none to gently. "Hey Senna! You better not be sleeping! Get the hell up if you are!"

"Ichigo. Shut up," Rukia half-snapped.

"What? I hate it when people sleep all day."

Rukia sighed before slowly opening the door slightly. "Senna?" Ichigo then opened the door entirely. The room looked the same as many of the Kuchiki guest rooms in that it had a bed, window with a nice view, dresser, wardrobe and a private bathroom, and a wooden stand for a shinigami's sword. There was also some of her own personal items that she had gained while in Soul Society, such as several books, a soul pager, and several discarded black robes on the floor.

"Oi! Senna!" he called into the room, though he didn't receive any answer.

"Senna?" Rukia asked, stepping into the room. "I don't think she's here."

"Dammit, then where the hell could she be?" Ichigo looked around the room before turning his sights to the unmade bed, and a folded up piece of paper that rested on the pillow. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Rukia turned to the bed, and the paper. She then walked to the side of the bed and picked up and unfolded the paper, some sort of note Ichigo figured. After several moments of reading the note, Rukia's eyes widened as she gasped.

"What's it say?" Ichigo asked, looking over the smaller woman's shoulders. After he read the note, his eyes narrowed and he growled in frustration. He then grabbed Rukia by the arm and stormed out of the room. "Damn it Senna."

000

_To whoever gets this note first (which I think may be either Ichigo, or Rukia, but if not, give this to them)_

_Sorry I had to leave without telling anyone, but hopefully I'll be back before anyone finds this note. If you've found it, then that means I'm still out. I went to Karakura Town to check something out, be back soon!  
_

_-Senna_

000

The sun was setting, bathing Karakura Town in a beautiful orange and red glow.

In midair above the city, a horizontal appeared before it split open and unfolded in a way similar to tiles sliding away from each other.

Ichigo and Rukia both stepped out of the Garganta and landed on the air, the latter slightly stumbling as she exited the threshold.

"Why do we have to use Garganta?" she asked. "Why can't we just use the Senkaimon?"

"Garganta's quicker." Ichigo snapped his fingers, causing the Garganta the seal up behind them. "We have to set up a time to use it, which takes forever, and it's never easy to go through the pathway. With a Garganta, I just open it up and step through."

"Grimmjow says the same thing," Rukia sourly mumbled under her breath. She hated it how her captain would always say the same thing. She herself didn't like to use the portal, she always felt like she was going to fall into the whirling darkness below.

"Rukia, can you try and sense Senna anywhere near here?" Ichigo asked, looking around his hometown. It had been a number of years since he had lived here, and there were numerous changes to the city. There were now taller skyscrapers, replacing buildings that he had known, and the city seemed to have grown, now covering more area then before.

"I'll see what I can do," she said. Rukia closed her eyes took several deep breaths before concentrating, trying to feel for any reiatsu signatures around her.

Rukia could sense the reiatsu of the town's assigned shinigami, several weak hollows, and several humans with higher-than normal reiatsu signatures, though none of them were strong enough to be cause for concern at the moment. She stretched her range out further, slightly straining herself.

And there she was.

"I found her," Rukia said, eyes snapping open.

"Really? Where is she?" Ichigo asked.

"This way, come on!" Rukia then started to fly towards Senna's destination. Ichigo followed behind.

000

Ichigo and Rukia landed on the concrete street in front of the gate.

"Why would Senna be here?" Rukia asked.

Ichigo looked up at the sign above the gate, a sudden heavy feeling forming in his gut. "Rukia," he said, gaining the smaller shinigami's attention. "Let me go in there alone."

"Why?"

"I think I know why she's here."

Rukia was silent for a moment before nodding her head and stepping back. "Alright."

"Thank you." Ichigo stepped forward and opened the gate and entered the Karakura Town Graveyard.

000

Ichigo walked along the paved stone walkway that rested between the numerous gravestones. He briefly wondered if any of the more recently buried had been sent to Soul Society (or Hell) by anyone he knew.

The captain stopped in his tracks when he saw Senna kneeling in front of one of the graves, hear head was down and her hair blocked his view of her face.

He instantly recognized it as the gravestone that he had last seen Senna at so long ago.

The one he said had her name on it.

Ichigo walked up to Senna from behind and looked up at the stone, and though the markings were very faded, they were clear enough to read.

"Ichigo," Senna said, still looking down.

"Yeah," he solemnly replied.

"This is the stone that you said that had my name on it, right?"

"I did."

"And it's not here, is it?" she asked, standing up, her back still to Ichigo.

"No, it's not. I said that it was because-"

_SLAP!_

Ichigo's head suddenly jerked to the side, and a painful stinging feeling hit is cheek. It took him several moment to realize that Senna had slapped him.

And hard.

"Why?" she asked, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the tears from falling. "Why did you tell that my name was there when it wasn't!" Senna opened her eyes and stared Ichigo down with a mixture of sorrow and anger. "When the Blanks were gone, and I was fading away, I was content with knowing that I had once lived in this town. But, if my name's not here, and I never lived here, what am I?"

"Senna,"

"That name was the only thing I had to prove that I existed!" she yelled. "Without it I'm nothing more than a pile of memories of different people! Why did you do that to me?!"

The whole time Ichigo hadn't turned his head from the direction that Senna had slapped in. He moved his head and looked Senna directly in the eye. "Because I couldn't tell you the truth."

"Huh?" she asked.

"Do you remember that boy we found?" Senna hesitantly nodded. "He cried because he didn't know where his father was, and I was prepared to send him to Soul Society, but you wanted his last moments in this world to be happy ones, with his father. Then when we came here, and you asked me if your name was on the graveyard, I couldn't have said that your name wasn't there. I wanted to make your last moments happy, by letting you think that you would leave happy, and you yourself said that you were happy.

"But," Senna turned her head away, taking in what Ichigo's words, "even so, just who am I?"

"Senna," Ichigo said.

"What?" she sadly said.

"No, that's who you are: Senna." She looked up at him. "That's who you've always been. It doesn't matter if you are just a collection of lost memories."

"That's easy coming from you, you've always had an identity, you've always known who you were. You've always been you! I'm just a memory! I-" she yelled.

"Don't be a memory!" Ichigo yelled back, surprising Senna. "Baka! If you don't want to be a memory, then stop living in the past and start living for the now and later. Yes, I said that you're name was on the stone when it wasn't, but what do you want me to do?!" Ichigo lowered his voice. "If you want to be your own person, and not the memories of others, then don't think about it, and just live your life as its own, because that's all you can do."

". . ." Senna turned her head to the side.

"So, Senna, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't want to be just a memory," Senna said, lifting her arm to dry her tears with sleeve. When she was done drying she looked up to Ichigo and smiled. "I like being a person. So let's head back to Soul Society and let them know who I am!" Senna then ran past Ichigo, but stopped when she was several feet away. "And Ichigo, thank you."

"No problem."

000

Rukia leaned against a telephone pole outside the graveyard. She was hoping Ichigo and Senna would come out soon as she was very worried about the two of them.

She heard the sound of a metal object bouncing on the ground and looked down to see a dull-black metal ball near her feet.

"Huh? Now what's-"

000

Senna stopped in her tracks.

"Something wrong?" Ichigo asked. Currently the two were near the exit.

"The reason I came here, it was because I didn't remember my surname. What am I supposed to call myself now? It's not like I can just make a name up."

"Why not?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Kenpachi came up with his own name, so no reason you can't come up with your own name."

"But what?"

"Don't know, I'm sure you'll come up with something."

"Any suggestions?"

"No, none I can think-"

_BOOM!_

Both Ichigo and Senna turned around to see the massive ball of fire erupt from the other side of the gate.

"Rukia!" Ichigo yelled out.

Please reveiw

Mrfipp


	22. The Shadowed Remnants

Fipp: The action officially begins to pick up here because we meet the antagonist of this arc.

Also, I have learned that in terms of anime, we will be entering fillers that will last for at least for the rest of the year. I think the new fillers will have to do with the spirits that reside within zanpaktous, which fits with the recent anime ending omakes.

So while most of you are dreading the interruption in the Fake Karakura Town Arc, I myself find it necessary, and as shown in this arc, I have a soft spot for fillers, so I can't wait to see what happens.

I hope this zanpaktou arc is true, because I want to know if Zenbonsakura is a girl, if Ruri'iro Kujaku is a peacock, and if Benihime is a bitch like I think she may be.

Autumn Arc: The Shadowed Remnants

"Rukia!" Ichigo yelled as the explosion ripped trough the air.

"What the hell happened?" Senna asked in shock of the sudden blast.

"Shit," Ichigo cursed, ready to dive into the rising smoke to find Rukia, when she flew into the air, backwards out of the smoke, sword drawn and swung just in time to block something that was shot at her. "Huh? What's going on?"

"Behind you!" yelled a voice. Ichigo then quickly jumped to the side just as the ground exploded. "Almost got you!" Ichigo then felt something heavy strike him in the stomach and was sent flying trough the grave.

"Ichigo!" Senna called, zanpaktou already drawn. She was about to attack the person who attacked Ichigo when someone suddenly appeared in front of her and thrust their arms forward, but she jumped back before they could hit her.

000

"If an attack like that took you down, you're not much of a fight, are you?" Ichigo stood up and saw just in time to see his attacker come out of the dust that had been thrown into the air by his attack; a man with shaggy blue hair, ragged gray shinigami robes and a shroud. Spinning in his hand was a large tonfa.

Ichigo then looked up into the air to see Rukia fighting two similarly dressed people: another man with long green hair, and a woman with red, shoulder-length spiked hair. The former was throwing numerous bombs at her while the latter was using a pair of rope darts.

He then looked to the person Senna was fighting; a man with a purple pony tail, stabbing at her relentlessly with a sai in each hand, allowing her only to dodge it by jumping backwards.

"Pay attention!" the tonfa-wieldier yelled, swinging his weapon at Ichigo, but the captain quickly drew Zangetsu and used it as a shield, but nonetheless was still thrown back by the force of the attack. "Otherwise you won't last five minutes against the power of Aoi." Aoi lifted his weapon and charged at Ichigo.

000

Rukia skidded to a stop in the air and held her zanpaktou up.

"Little shinigami-chan," the red-haired woman said, swinging one of her rope darts in a quick circle. "Two-on-one isn't fair is it?"

"No it isn't," the green-haired man said, tossing one of the round bombs in his hands up and down. "But, who ever said anything about being fair, huh?"

"Who are you two?" Rukia asked. "And why are you attacking us?"

"Our names?" the redhead asked. "My name is Aka, and his name is Midoriiro."

"Why bother telling her our names?" Midoriiro asked. "She's just going to be killed anyway."

"Guess you're right," Aka shrugged. "No point telling the dead anything." She then threw the rope dart.

000

"Having fun yet?" the man asked, pushing Senna back with a flurry of sai stabs. He then jumped up and kicked Senna in the stomach and threw her against a wall.

"Not really," she said, before rolling out of the way as he stabbed the wall, and then followed her as she continued to roll against the wall.

"You're going to run out of room to roll soon enough girl!" he yelled.

And it was true, Senna had rolled directly into the corner of the graveyard, leaving her no room to escape.

"Damn it!" she cursed.

"Now die!" the man yelled, rearing on of the sais back, poised to strike her. He would have done this, but a hand reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Now now Kasshoku," said the person who stopped his attack. "We can't end it like this."

Kasshoku looked back to see a man with gray hair angled at various angles. "Shimofuri," he said, ripping his arm from the other's grasp and taking several steps back. "Of course, forgive me."

"Yes, yes, your enthusiasm is to be expected," Shimofuri said, waving the other man off. "But we must do this properly." Without looking, his arm then shot out and grabbed Senna by her collar and threw her to the center of the graveyard. He then walked over to the fallen girl and drew a long sword and placed his finger against the blade, causing it to become semi-transparent. "Now, Shinjuku Senna," he said, raising the blade above his head. "Time to set all right."

Senna then quickly brought her sword up to block then man's strike, but his blade kept pushing down on her.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Shimofuri looked up to see a large crescent of light shoot towards him. He dodged out of the way just as it soared over Senna and hit where he was.

Ichigo then jumped away from Aoi and fired two more Getsuga Tenshou blasts up into the air, on either side of Rukia to prevent her from being attacked on both side. He then quickly used shunpo to appear next to Senna, and was soon joined back Rukia.

"You two okay?"

"I am," Rukia said.

"Same here," Senna said, getting up.

"More complications huh?" Shimofuri asked as he and the other four circled Ichigo, Rukia and Senna. "I would prefer it blood not be spilled, but if you do not stand down, then more blood will spill."

"Who are you guys?" Ichigo asked, gripping Zangetsu in his hands.

"We are simply people who are going to set things right," Shimofuri said, pointing his blade at the three. "Our very presence here is a disturbance in the world, and so is hers," he pointed at Senna, "so we must end our business, and soon."

"Me?" Senna asked.

"What do you people want with Senna?" Rukia asked.

"Simple!" Midoriiro said. "To kill her!"

"Idiot!" Aoi snapped. "You can't kill something that doesn't existence!"

Senna tightened her hands on her zanpaktou.

"To kill Senna?" Ichigo asked, moving his eyes slightly towards her direction. "Just who the hell are you people?" He snapped.

"Us?" Shimofuri raised an eyebrow before shrugging a response. "Nobody. We are simply nobody." Then, in the blink of an eye, he vanished-

-and reappeared in front of Senna. He opened his hand in front of her face, and a glowing light appeared, causing her to fall unconscious and fall backwards. He raised his blade and swung down, only for it to be blocked by Rukia's blade.

"Dance," she said. "Sode no Shirayuki." In a sudden chilled air, the sword turned white, and a long white ribbon grew from the pommel. She pushed him back and swung at him, sending a wave of ice forward.

Aka then appeared behind and threw one of her rope darts, but Ichigo, with Senna in one of his free arm, quickly appeared and knocked them away and sent a Getsuga Tenshou forward, only for Kasshoku to appear and block it.

Suddenly, Midoriiro appeared above them and tossed down several bombs on them, but they quickly jumped away and into the air.

"Dammit," Ichigo cursed, readjusting his grip on the unconscious Senna.

"We're outnumber," Rukia said. "And Senna's out for the count."

"I grow tiresome of this," Shimofuri said. "Let's this now." He then snapped his fingers, and all around them, a large number of the black Blanks appeared.

"These guys," Ichigo said. "You're the guys that attacked me! Just what are you after? Why do want to hurt Senna?!" He thought back to the Dark Ones, and how they had planned to use Senna and the Blanks to destroy Soul Society and the Living World. Were these guys, whoever they were, after the same thing?

"I told you," Shimofuri said, pointing his blade at the three. "We are he to rectify a mistake." His allies readied their weapons.

"Ichigo," Rukia said, "I think we should retreat."

"No need to tell me twice." Ichigo then pointed Zangetsu to the side, and a garganta appeared at its tip. When it was fully opened, Rukia quickly jumped in, and was followed by Ichigo, and then quickly closed behind him.

Ichigo didn't notice the small ball of light that suddenly slipped from his body. It hovered in the air for a brief second before flying down and melting into the tip of Shimofuri's blade.

"Run, run, run," he said, sheathing his blade. "But this will end, one way or another." His eyes then began to turn acid green, and with a flick of his hand, garganta appeared behind him.

Please review

Mrfipp


	23. Broken Walls

Fipp: It's a good thing the Vizards showed up, Soul Society was about to get its ass kicked.

Autumn Arc: Broken Walls

"This that so," Hitsugaya said.

"Hai Soutaichou," Rukia said loud enough for the room of captains and vice-captains to be hear from her position in the middle of the room. "After we tracked down Senna to the Karakura Town graveyard, we were attacked by five unknown figures who addressed themselves as Aka, Aoi, Midoriiro, Kasshoku and Shimofuri. They were dressed in gray-colored shinigami uniforms and cloaks."

"Were these guys those people that kidnapped Senna before? The Dark Ones?" Matsumoto asked.

"No," Ichigo shook his head. "They didn't wear the same armor as they did, just gray versions of what we wear."

"What about what they were after?" Komamura asked.

"They said that they wanted to kill Senna."

"For what reason would they do this?" Hisagi asked.

"They wanted to 'rectify a mistake', they said."

"What the hell does that mean?" Grimmjow asked.

"They also said that just by being there, they were being disturbances."

"What?" Kenpachi asked. "I hate things like this."

"Is that all?" Hitsugaya asked. Both Ichigo and Rukia nodded. "This can cause some problems. Until we know who these people were, I am posting twenty-four guards around Senna. Should any of you, or your squads learn more about this mysterious group, report it to me as soon as possible. Meeting adjourned."

The captains and vice-captains then began to talk amongst themselves and exit out of the room.

"Kurosaki-taichou," Hitsugaya said, causing the captain to stop in his tracks. "How did Senna get into the World of the Living?"

Ichigo blinked. "She took one of Byakuya's private Senkaimon." Didn't they already discuss this?

"Tell me, wasn't Senna put in your charge?" Ichigo froze. "Tell me, how did she get away from you?"

Ichigo cursed every curse word he knew inside his head and directed at Senna.

000

Rukia walked down the halls of the Fourth Division following it's vice-captain.

"Are you sure that you didn't recognize any of them Kuchiki-san?" Inoue asked.

Rukia shook her head. "No, I never met these people before."

"Then why would they want Senna-san dead?"

"You're guess is as good as mine. Speaking of Senna, how is she?"

"Oh, well-wait, here we are." Inoue stopped in her tracks and turned to a door and the opened it. Rukia looked inside to see Senna, lying unconscious on the bed inside.

After coming out of the garganta, and landing back in Soul Society, Ichigo and Rukia had attempted to briefly wake Senna up, but to no avail. They then took her to the Fourth Division and as soon as she was checked in, quickly set up an emergency meeting.

"Did she wake up?" Rukia asked.

Inoue shook her head. "I'm sorry, but what was used on her was a kido spell that only causes the target to become unconscious. While the result is simply, it's quite difficult to remove. Thankfully, it's not something that lasts too long, so she should be out of it somewhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours."

"Thank goodness," Rukia sighed in relief.

"We'll just keep her here until she wakes up, okay?"

"Thank you, please tell me when-"

There was then a large explosion, almost sending both female vice-captains to the ground.

"What was that?" Inoue asked, placing her hand on the wall for balance.

"I don't know," Rukia said. "But it can't be good."

"Kuchiki-fukutaichou! Inoue-fukutaichou!" Both looked down the hall to see an unseated shinigami fall to the wall. "Hurry! Come quickly!"

Rukia and Inoue didn't need much to convince them to run toward the chaos.

000

"I do not owe you any money," Omaeda said, waving Iba off.

"What! Yes you do!" Iba yelled.

"Tch, fine, very well," the larger vice-captain reached into his robe and pulled out a small bag of coins and threw it at Iba. "That should be more then enough."

"What the hell! You didn't even count how much is in here!"

"Not that much, I still have more."

"You're not just supposed to give money away! And you don't even know if you owed me money in the first place!"

Omaeda shrugged and absentmindedly picked his ear. "You're getting annoying, so it'd shut you up."

"Damn you," Iba growled.

"You'd you two please stop arguing, it's getting annoying," Ishida said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

". . ." Sado remained silent.

"You have your money, so please be quiet," Mosqueda said.

It was after hours, the sun setting in the sky, and five of the vice-captains, Omaeda, Ishida, Iba, Sado and Mosqueda, had decided to go get something to eat before retiring to their homes for the nights, and were currently were sitting at a dumpling stand.

"Well I have-" Omaeda said, stopping in mid-sentence.

"You guys feel that?" Iba asked.

"Yes," Ishida said. "This sudden reiatsu, what is it."

"What is it?" Sado asked, looking behind him. His eyes widened in surprise. "Look out!" he suddenly jumped out of his fist back, covering it in the Hollow-like armor and punched forward, slamming his fist into the monster, a pseudo-Blank and destroyed it.

"What is god's names was that?" Mosqueda asked.

"One of those Blank things Ikkaku said attacked him and Yachiru," Iba said, reaching inside his robe and grabbing the hilt of his zanpaktou.

"We need to somehow tell Soul Society about this," Mosqueda said.

"Somehow, I don't think that'll be much if an issue," Ishida said, stringing his bow.

Around them, a large number of pseudo-Blanks suddenly appeared, surrounding the five vice-captains.

"What the hell?" Omaeda yelled. "Where did all these things come from?"

"You should prepare yourself Omaeda-fukutaichou," Mosqueda said, flipping the wrist-blades of Draga into their ready positions.

"Huh? Oh, right!" Omaeda drew his sword.

The pseudo-Blanks then charged and attacked the vice-captains, who then attacked back.

000

Above the darkened skies of the Sereitei, a garganta ripped open the sky.

"And so we have entered the Sereitei, the home of the shinigami," Shimofuri said, jumping to the ground, his green eyes turning back to gray.

"So we can finally start huh?" Aka asked.

"Good, I was getting bored, all this waiting and stuff," Aoi said.

"Where do we start exactly?" Midoriiro asked, cracking his neck.

"I suggest we spilt up," Kasshoku said. "We have a better chance of finding her if we do that."

"Good idea," Shimofuri snapped his fingers. "Spread out, and when you find her, bring her to me."

"What about the shinigami?" Kasshoku asked.

"Our Blanks will keep them busy, but if you meet a shinigami, kill one if you have to,"

"Yes sir!" the other four said and split up, heading into different direction around the Sereitei.

One of them, Aoi, headed right for the Fourth Division.

Please review

Mrfipp


	24. Invasion

Fipp: No reviews last chapter. Dammit, that sucks. Hopefully I'll get more this chapter!

Autumn Arc: Invasion

The explosions were heard throughout the Sereitei, even in the Captain's Meeting Hall.

"What the hell was that?" Ichigo asked running out of the room and sending the doors open and running down the hall.

"Kurosaki!" Hitsugaya yelled, chasing after Ichigo to find the captain had run to one of the various breezeways that were common in the First Division. "What's going on? Are we being attacked."

Ichigo's eyes widened at what he saw destroying the Sereitei. "The Blanks!" Ichigo said. "Dammit! Senna!" With a burst of shunpo, Ichigo had vanished.

"Looks like whoever it is that's after Senna has arrived," Hitsugaya said, observing the damage the pseudo-Blanks were creating. "I have to find out where they are." He then began to walk down the hall, but paused long enough to cut the pseudo-Blanks that were about to attack him from behind, in half.

000

The was a large quake and a number of shinigami flew through the air before painfully crashing to the ground.

"HAHA! You guys are just too much fun!" Aoi laughed, spinning the tonfa in his hand. He walked over to one of the downed shinigami and painfully pressed the tip of the tonfa into the man's sternum. "Now, if you tell me what it is that I want to know, and I may spare you."

"G-Go to hell," the shinigami spat.

"Wrong." Aoi raised the tonfa and slammed it down on the shinigami, who yelled in pain. "Now, where is the girl known as Senna?" The shinigami mumbled something. "What was that?" Harder. "I couldn't hear you?"

"I said, she's in the Squad Four Barracks!" the shinigami cried in pain.

"Oh, thank you shinigami. Now die." Aoi raised the tonfa and brought it down, intending to end the shinigami's life, but was only given a loud thud instead of breaking flesh and bone. "What the?"

The tonfa hit, instead of hitting a shinigami, had collided with an orange, translucent, triangular shield.

"YO!" he heard a voice call. He turned around to see a large, long, figure rushing towards him. The thing, which looked like a giant worm suddenly slid to a stop and two more figures jumped off of its head and landed in front of it, each one striking a pose while the worm did something similar.

"Stop right there!" the two said in unison. "Otherwise you'll be forced to face the power of Third Seats Pesche Guatiche, Dondochakka Bilstin, Bawabawa and Inoue Orihime-fukutaichou!"

. . .

"Oi! Orihime!" one of the two, the white ant guy, called up to the worm's head. "Why didn't you jump down with us?"

"Um, sorry!" Suddenly, Inoue popped out from behind Bawabawa's mask. "But, is this really the best time for one of your poses?"

"Of course it is, dont'cha know?" Dondochakka said.

"Yeah! We used to do these poses with Nel in much more serious situations when she was an Espada!" Pesche said.

"Huh?" Inoue raised an eyebrow. She had a difficult time imaging one of Aizen's most elite warriors pulling off funny poses.

"It's true! It gets really boring in Las Noches. It's either find something to occupy your time, or you go mad."

Inoue slightly whined in agreement. She was very bored during her time as Aizen's captive.

"Hey! You guys!" Aoi called, catching the four's attention. "Just who the hell are you guys?"

"Didn't you just here us?" Pesche yelled, pointing at Aoi. "Our names our-"

"I don't care about your names. I want to know who are guys are."

"Did you just beat all these people?" Inoue asked, jumping down from Bawabawa's head.

"So what if I did?"

"And are you the ones that Kuchiki-san told me about? The ones after Senna-san?"

"Yeah, I'm after the girl. You going to stop me?"

Inoue raised her hands. "Sōten Kisshun." Suddenly, two steaks of light shone from her hairclips and flew behind Bawabawa, forming a large oval shield. "Pesche-kun, Dondochakka-kun I need you to round up the injured and put them under that shield, while Bawabawa-kun guards them. I'll make sure this man doesn't cause anymore harm to anyone."

"Hai!" Pesche and Dondochakka saluted and ran off to collect the injured.

"No you don't!" Aoi yelled, running to strike Pesche.

"Santen Kesshun!" Inoue yelled, summoning up the triangular shield to protect the Hollow.

"Dammit," Aoi said though grit teeth, glaring at Inoue. "Looks like if I want to make any leeway, I'm going to have to kill you, aren't I then?" Aoi pointed the tonfa at Inoue. "That ant guy said you were a vice-captain, correct?"

Inoue nodded. "I am Inoue Orihime, Vice-Captain of Squad Four."

"That's good, I was thinking that all these low level shinigami around me would be too pathetic and easy to really fight." Aoi began to spin the tonfa around. "Let's go, Fukutaichou!"

Aoi then dashed forward and swung the tonfa, only to be blocked by Inoue's shield.

"Koten Zanshun!" A light suddenly shone from one of the hairclips and made a beeline straight for Aoi, the man quickly blocked it and jumped to the side and launched himself at Inoue. His attack was about to connect with her head when she used shunpo, a skill she had learned and mastered to a degree, and reappeared a safe distance.

She was then surprised when Aoi also used shunpo to appear in front of her and jab the tonfa right into her stomach and sent her crashing into a wall. He the rushed forward and jabbed at her again, but she quickly jumped out of the way and the tonfa punctured the wall. He then swung the weapon, tearing a portion of the wall, causing dust to fly into Inoue's eye.

Aoi took this moment of blindness and made of another attack, only to be blocked by Tsubaki, who kept attacking with abandon. The man quickly jumped past Tsubaki and swung down at Inoue, who quickly called up her shield, though she felt the pressure pushing down on it. He then saw Tsubaki flying at him and jumped a fair distance away.

"I noticed something Fukutaichou," Aoi said while Inoue coughed up a small amount of blood. "You're using that one shield to heal those shinigami I beat earlier right?" He gestured to Sōten Kisshun, hovering safely over a number of injured shinigami Pesche and Dondochakka had gathered. "So I guess that means you can't heal yourself, huh?" Aoi stopped spinning the tonfa and pointed at Inoue. "Good."

Inoue stood up, the four available fairies flying around her. "I know that," she said. "But they're healing the injured, so it's okay."

"So you think can take me on with just those four little things? Come one! I'm not even trying!"

'_He's strong' _Inoue thought. _'He has a lot of reiatsu. And his attacks were strong, and if he isn't really trying, I think I may need more then that.'_

"What you going to do?" Aoi asked.

Inoue simply stood up, as the buds on her hairclips glowed for a moment, and produced two more fairies.

Please review

Mrfipp


	25. The Seventh and Eighth Fairies

Fipp: I have now typed this whole arc! Now to get onto the next one.

Autumn Arc: The Seventh and Eighth Fairies

_The shield shattered and Inoue fell to the ground._

"_Inoue." Said girl struggled to sit up and look across the room, Urahara's training room, to the person, Ishida, and to the other, Sado. They were having a two-on-one spar; her being by herself. "Are you okay?"_

"_Oh, um yes Ishida-kun!" Inoue quickly shook her head and stood up. "Okay, I'm ready to continue!"_

_Ishida raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? We've been training for the past several hours. We should at least take a break to tend to the wounds you've taken during the spar."_

_Inoue looked down at her badly bruised self and laughed nervously. "Oh, yeah, I guess I should do something about that." Inoue raised her hands, ready to heal herself, when Ishida suddenly appeared by her and gently grabbed her wrist. "Ishida-kun?"_

"_No. We should let someone else heal your wounds, you've already used up too much reiatsu already. There's no need to over do yourself."_

"_But-"_

"_Ishida's right," Sado left, starting his walk to the ladder. "We should probably all take a break for now and continue later."_

"_Fine," Inoue said dejectedly._

_000_

_Later, the three of them had decided to call it a day, and after Inoue's wounds, as well as the minor ones that Ishida and Sado had, they decided to stay at Urahara's shop a bit longer for tea. Ishida and Sado sipped their tea, while Inoue didn't._

"_Ishida-kun, Sado-kun?" she asked, causing the two to look at her. "You two became stronger for the Winter War? Correct?" It had been several months since the War._

"_Yes, I regained my Quincy powers and learned several new techniques to prepare for the battles we were to face," Ishida replied._

"_Abarai-san helped me awaken a new arm, and my battle with Mosqueda helped me discover two more arms," Sado responded. "Why?"_

"_Oh, it's, um, nothing," Inoue diverted her view to something else in the room. That corner looked interesting._

"_Is something wrong?" Ishida asked with concern._

"_. . .Do you guys think I'm weak?" she timidly asked._

"_Weak?" Ishida asked._

"_. . ." Sado went._

"_Yes. You two, Kurosaki-kun, Kuchiki-san, Abarai-kun; You've each gotten stronger, and learned new abilities, but I haven't learned anything new." _

_She was useless in Las Noches. She could do nothing as Kurosaki-kun fought Grimmjow. Nothing while he and Nel-san were pummeled by Nnoitra Jigura and Tesla; they were lucky Zaraki-san appeared to save them. Her weakness allowed Kurosaki-kun to enter that horrible form. And Ulquiorra . . ._

_She wasn't denying her powers were powerful, but they were limited. Had she reached her full limit after only such a short time?_

"_You wish to lean new abilities?" Ishida asked, pushing his glasses up. "I am sorry, but I am not entirely sure how we can help with that."_

"_Be patient," Sado said. "They will come with time,"_

_Inoue could only hope._

_000_

_A number of years later, when she found herself working and living in Soul Society, under Unohana-taichou, she had been assigned to aid a squad that had fallen under a Hollow attacked in one of the forested districts._

"_There!" she said cheerfully, healing the last of the shinigami. "All better!"_

"_Thank you Inoue-san," the shinigami bowed._

"_You're welcome. Now, go out and complete your rounds, Unohana-taichou wanted me back as soon as possible. Bye-bye!" _

_The shinigami quickly nodded and ran off, and Inoue made her way back to the Squad._

_It had been several minutes of traveling when she was suddenly sent flying into a tree. Inoue struggled to stand up and saw a spider-like Hollow. She made a move to destroy it but it had moved simply to fast, she almost didn't see it, and it made a tried to kill her._

_There were two flashes, and the Hollow flew back, howling in pain, and this time, Tsubaki had no problem keeping up with it._

_Inoue blinked and was the two new spirits hovering in front of her._

_End flashback . . ._

"Hi Orihime," yawned the larger of the two, the largest of all the fairies; a sleepy looking, armor-clad spirit male with matted red hair. "Did you have to call me? I was having such a nice nap."

"Do we have to fight?" asked the tiny, timid, blue-haired female in a long kimono. "I don't like fighting." She hid behind the Tsubaki.

"Grow a spine why don't you!" Tsubaki snapped. "And you!" he pointed to the larger one. "Wake up already!"

"Tsubaki," Inoue said, waving her finger. "How many times have I told you to be nice to Bara and Tanpopo?"(1)

Tsubaki growled.

"Oi! Bitch!" Aoi yelled. "Stop talking to those things and fight!" Aoi suddenly launched himself at Inoue, tonfa poised to kill.

"Shaininguten Mirashun!" Inoue called. (2) Tanpopo then flew in front Inoue, and a large circular shield grew from his body. Aoi's tonfa slammed into it, but instead of just simply being deflected, he felt a massive amount of force crash down on his body and was sent flying into a wall.

"Dammit shit!" he yelled, standing up. "What the hell was that?"

"That was Bara, he acts like a shield, but whatever attacks him will have their own attack bounced back at them, but a little more powerful," Inoue explained, before letting Tsubaki fly at him.

"HA! You think that'll work!" Aoi laughed, defecting each of the attacks.

"Hayaiten Gennishun."(3) Bara suddenly flew out and circled Tsubaki, creating a glowing halo around him. When they struck Aoi, he was sent flying into a wall by the massive force. "And Bara strengthens power of any of my other powers.

"Die already!" Aoi yelled, charging at Inoue. She was about to bring up a shield when he was rained upon by thick goo. He then slipped and slid into a wall.

"Take that you!" Pesche laughed an pointed at Aoi. "No one can stand up to Infinite Slick!"

"Orihime!" Dondochakka called. "The people are all on Bawabawa, we can go now."

"Okay, I'll be right there," Inoue said, heading for the three Hollows.

"No you don't!" Aoi yelled, jumping at Inoue. His tonfa was about to crash into her skull, but the weapon was grabbed.

"Never attack someone from behind," the grabber said, before throwing Aoi back.

"Komamura-taichou," Inoue gasped at the sudden appearance of the large captain. "What are you doing here?"

"I felt there was a battle going one, and I rushed to see if there were any injuries. It seems I was right," Komamura said, looking at the injured shinigami on Bawabawa's back.

"GOD FUCKING SHIT!!!" Aoi yelled, climbing out of the rubble. "How many people are going to block my attacks?!" Aoi pointed the tonfa at Inoue and the others. "That's it! First I'm going to kill the damned girl! Then the dog! And then whatever the hell you three are!"

"You talking to us punk?" Pesche said.

"I'm going to kill every single person here," Aoi said, narrowing his eyes.

Inoue, Pesche and Dondochakka each readied their weapons when Komamura stepped in front of them. "No Inoue-fukutaichou, you are needed to heal the injured in this invasion. Allow me to fight this man." Komamura drew his zanpaktou.

"Will you be alright?" Komamura nodded. "Okay, good luck!" Inoue turned around and ran toward Bawabawa. "Pesche-kun! Dondochakka-kun! Let's go!" She then jumped on Bawabawa.

"Right!" The Hollows saluted and jumped on the eel as it slithered away, leaving Aoi with Komamura.

"Damn you," Aoi hissed standing up. "Why do you people keep doing this?"

"From what I've heard, you are here to kill the Shinjuku, Senna," Komamura asked. "May I ask why?"

Aoi chuckled. "I don't tell the dead our plans!" Aoi then pointed the tonfa at Komamura, and the captain felt a pressure in his head.

A small ball of light flew from his head and sunk into Aoi's body. He pulsed light for a moment before his hair grew in length, and became knotted, trailing down his back, and his eye became cloudy.

"Time to die, shinigami," he said

(1) Bara means 'rose', while Tanpopo means 'dandelion'. Bara is the female and Tanpopo is the male.

(2) Shining Sacred Mirror Shield.

(3) Swift Sacred Empower Shield.

Please review

Mrfipp


	26. Recycled Memories, The Numbing Darkness

Fipp: I don't care what any of you think, I just love fillers. This week's one was one of my favorites. Hehe, wigs, soul-bounding glue, and Mayuri trying to give Hitsugaya candy is always funny.

And is it me, or does anyone else thing Keigo's sister looks like Wolfinia from Kubo's earlier work, Zombie Powder?

Autumn Arc: Recycled Memories, The Numbing Darkness

Komamura placed his hand on the hilt of his zanpaktou and raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in Aoi's appearance. "What did you do to yourself?"

"I simply used our true power," Aoi said, raising the tonfa and holding it vertically in front of him. "Now, shinigami, prepare to witness what we can really do. So tell me if this at all looks familiar. Cry, Suzumshi."

"What?" Komamura asked.

Suddenly a high-pitched ringing nose sailed through the air, attacking Komamura's sensitive ears, sending him crashing to his knees and grabbing his head in pain.

"Did not expect that, did you?" Aoi calmly asked, spinning the tonfa around. "It is what we do, out power. We can look into a person's memories and steal the powers of one person whom they've known, allowing us to not only take on a similar appearances to them, but access to all their techniques that you know about, in this case, I chose the memory of a Tousen Kaname."

"Kaname's memory?" Komamura growled, struggling to stand up.

"Hai, shinigami. We copy their power, appearance, mannerisms and such, and by combining these traits, with our own power, we are made even more powerful then that." Aoi crouched. "Die." He then leaped forward and struck at Komamura, sending him crashing into the ground. Aoi then leaped into the air and threw his sword back. "Smash his limbs, Benihiko!"

The tonfa began to rapidly vibrate as it was swung through the air, leaving behind and series of afterimages of the tonfa. He then sent them down at Komamura, each one poised to crush him like an egg.

"Roar, Tenken!" Komamura yelled. His zanpaktou began to glow read and Komamura slammed his fist into the ground, and suddenly a massive armored gauntlet crashed to the ground, blocking the multiple tonfas from crashing down on him.

"Damn it," Aoi cursed, before unleashing another sound wave. Komamura quickly swung his arm in front of him, summoning a large arm to appear in front of him, blocking the attack from furthering the damage on him.

Komamura then swung his sword down, summoning a large armored arm and sword that was aiming down for Aoi. But the man jumped back as the massive blade crashed down on the ground, and he leaped forward at the captain, who managed to block the attack.

The two then exchanged a number of strikes, blocks, swift dodges and counterattacks.

"You're good," Aoi said, sidestepping a downward strike from Komamura, and retaliated with a forward jab, which was blocked. "Unfortunately, I cannot remain in this stalemate for much longer." Aoi jumped backward and raised the tonfa in front of him, holding it by the larger handle and placing the palm of his free hand against the flat end on the primary handle.

"What are you doing now?" Komamura asked.

"Simple, I am going to kill you in the way with the least bloodshed. Bankai." Aoi then pulled his hand away from the handle, summoning a number of rings and spreading them throughout the area. Darkness suddenly began to grow from the rings, spreading until both Aoi and Komamura were engulfed in a massive orb of darkness. "Enma Korogi."

_Damn it, _Komamura though, raising Tenken in front of him.

"If I am correct," Aoi said, walking up to Komamura, "The Bankai of Tousen Kaname, Enma Korogi, robs a person of their sight, smell, taste and hearing, leaving them with only their sense of touch. I also know that those who touched his zanpaktou, my tonfa, gain their other senses back. He told you this after the fight you two had with a Zaraki Kenpachi." Aoi was now standing one meter from Komamura. "I will just have to make sure that every strike I deal, will be to fast for you to recognize the return of your senses."

Aoi then used shunpo and appeared behind Komamura and dealt a painful blow, sending the large captain to the ground, then appearing above him and driving the tonfa down on him and quickly jumping away.

_Damn it. _Komamura struggled to get back up when he was struck in the jaw, then on more places on his front and sent crashing to the ground. Then another strike cam from below and crushed down on his stomach.

"You can't continue on much further shinigami," Aoi said. "Any more tricks?"

Komamura, though he couldn't hear Aoi, responded by pointing his zanpaktou right in front of him. "Bankai!" The ground began to break apart a red reiatsu gathered behind him, forming a massive shape, and soon the massive armored samurai stood above them. "Kokujo Tengen Myo'o!"

"Your Bankai?" Aoi asked. "What good will that do you in this situation?" Aoi raised the tonfa. "Nothing. It is good for nothing." Aoi then charged at Komamura, and as the tonfa was about to crash down on his skull, the captain spoke one word.

"Amatsuyoroi." Kokujo Tengen Myo'o suddenly exploded in red reiatsu particles that quickly flew and covered Komamura. The tonfa struck forward, but instead of hitting fur and flesh, it hit metal. As the particles settled, taking form around the shinigami, Aoi saw the change in Komamura.

The armor of Kokujo Tengen Myo'o, was now being worn by Komamura. The same boots, chest plate, helmet, face cloth, sword, ect. With his free hand, he had grabbed Aoi's tonfa.

"B-but how?" Aoi asked as he was thrown back. "How did you catch that? Can you see me?"

"Yes, yes I can," Komamura said, surprising Aoi. "When Kaname left Soul Society with Ichimaru and Aizen, I knew one day I would meet him again, and we would fight. So I trained myself, so I could fight on equal grounds against his Bankai, and this," he gestured to the armor he was now wearing, "this was the result.

"Kokujo Tengen Myo'o, is perhaps the most powerful Bankai in Soul Society in terms of physical power. But, if not against a large army, or a massive enemy, it is quite useless against smaller opponents. So to solve both problems, I developed this technique, Amatsuyoroi (1), which covers me in the armor of my Bankai, allowing me not only to fight against single opponents, but I am also granted a sixth sense, which compensates for the other senses that would have been lost to Kaname's Bankai.

"Unfortunately, I was unable to perfect this ability before the Winter War, so I was unable to use it against him." Komamura held his sword in front of him, his whole body glowing red. "I am Komamura Sajin, Captain of Squad Seven of the Gotei 13. Now come."

"Very well, Komamura Sajin," Aoi said, holding the tonfa in front of him.

Aoi swung at Komamura, but the captain deflected it with his arm, the wood crashing against the metal and sent the man flying back, and then swung his own blade, sending a large arc of red energy forward, but Aoi quickly brought his weapon up and blocked it, albeit being pushed back a number of feet before. The captain the jumped forward and swung down, crushing the ground Aoi had stood only moments ago, sending massive slabs of stone into the air.

Both now stood on opposite ends of the field and grabbed their weapons and held them up.

Both charged at each other and swung their weapons.

000

The large black bubble stood, nearly invisible against the night sky, overlapping the alleys, being held down by ten chains.

Until it burst.

The shreds of the Bankai settled down, dissolving into nothing.

In the center of the area, stood Komamura, and Aoi, who now had a large bleeding gap running down from his shoulder to his other side.

"Kuso," Aoi cursed, clutching his wound and falling to his knees. "Damn you,"

"Now Aoi," Komamura said, his Bankai dissolving into nothing as he dismissed it. "Why is it that you are after Shinjuku Senna?"

"Hn," Aoi said, his body glowing. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Then, before Komamura's eyes, Aoi's whole body dissolved into blue particles that dissipated into the air.

Seeing he no longer had any reason to remain in this area, he left in search for more places to assist.

000

Several pseudo-Blanks crept along the outside walls of the Fourth Division, nearing the window that lead to the room of the target. They raised their bodies, ready to strike-

When a blast of lightning fired from the room, not only taking out the pseudo-Blanks, but the wall as well.

"I really need to work on control," Senna said, eye twitching and how loose her kido spell was. She looked around and saw the state of chaos that the Sereitei was due to the invaders, the ones that were after her.

Her hands dropped themselves as she thought of what they could be doing to the people she had made friends with. Rukia. Ichigo.

Senna drew her zanpaktou and leaped down into the battle.

If whoever they were wanted her, they could have her.

(1) Heavenly Armor.

Please review

Mrfipp


	27. Matches SetUp

Fipp: I just love the new arc! The physical forms of all the zanpaktous are all very interesting, such as Ashisogi Jizo, Suzumebachi, and Haineko. Though I'm curious about Hyorinmaru and Zabimaru, since neither had a human form before, and now they do (it also seems that Renji took Mayuri's offer). Also curious as to why Itegumo doesn't appear, even though Isane is there.

Autumn Arc: Matches Set-up

There were explosions and chaos as the building fell and various fires broke out around the Sereitei.

Aka jumped along the walls as she threw the rope dart, tearing them through the buildings and shinigami that tried to stop her.

"This is just too much fun," she said, twirling a rope dart in a circle, before throwing it at a building, and causing its collapse upon retraction. The redhead then jumped down to the ground and threw the darts again, piercing the shinigami who were foolish enough to attack her. "It's sad that I have to fight such weakling shinigami. They're so boring."

Aka stopped in her tracks and looked down to see several small marble-like objects land at her feet. She then jumped away from them as they began to glow a bright light and explode, destroying the street she was just on.

"It looks like I missed," said a voice from the rising dust.

Aka landed on the other side of the street. "Who's there?" she asked, reading her weapons. "Come out so I can kill you!"

"My my," the voice said. "So rude, aren't we? You haven't even seen my face, and you already wish for my death."

As the smoke cleared Aka could begin to make out a figure. "Just who the hell are you?"

"If you must know my name." The smoke cleared and Aka could see the person clearly now. "My name is Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Captain of Squad Twelve and President of the Department of Research and Development."

000

Midoriiro cracked his neck as he causally tossed a bomb over his shoulder, having it exploded several seconds later.

At first, he was very proud at the amount of damage he was causing, but became quickly bored with it since he had killed all the shinigami that came to fight him.

"Just where the hell is everybody? Man I am so freaking bored. But it's not like someone's just going to crash through walls and someone's just going to show up, looking for a fight. I mean, the chances of that happening are like a million-to-"

Just then, the wall behind him exploded, causing Midoriiro to jump for cover.

"Damn it," a rough voice said from the dust cloud. "Stupid walls getting in the way."

"What the hell?!" Midoriiro yelled, pointing at the cloud. "Who the hell are you?"

There was a chuckle from the cloud. "Good, looks like I found someone to fight. What's your name?"

Midoriiro blinked in confusion. "Midoriiro."

The smokes cleared. "Heh, good." The large figure drew his sword. "My name is Zaraki Kenpachi, captain of Squad Eleven. Let's fight!"

Okay, so a million-to-one shot happened more often then not.

000

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo cried, swinging Zangetsu and sending a large wave of blue light forward, destroying the pseudo-Blanks in his way. "Damn it," he cursed. "Just how many of you are you!"

Ichigo was answered by another flood of pseudo-Blanks. The captain then wildly slashed through the attackers.

He then jumped into the air, reading another attack when he was attacked from the side, and was sent crashing down to the ground. The attacker was about to make for another stab, when their weapons were caught on the Ichigo's blade.

"You," Ichigo hissed, before pushing the attacker back.

"Why hello there Kurosaki-taichou," Kasshoku said, holding his sais in the reverse position.

"What the hell did you guys do with Senna?" Ichigo asked, getting back up.

"Now what do you mean by that Kurosaki?" Kasshoku mockingly asked.

"I went to the Fourth Division because that's that last place I left her, and all I found was a hole in the wall. So let me ask you again; what did you do with Senna?"

Kasshoku smirked. "Ah yes, Senna. Sadly for us, she manage to destroy the Blanks we sent after her, and she ran off into the city somewhere."

"Figures," Ichigo chuckled. "Senna never could stay in one place for very long."

"Yes, and right now I believe Shimofuri is encountering her even as we speak." Ichigo's eyes widened. "She will surely die."

"Where the hell is she, bastard!"

"I think she went over there somewhere," Kasshoku gestured to the path to his left. "I'd hurry if I were you."

Without a word, Ichigo quickly dashed down the path, but Kasshoku appeared in front of him and stabbed forward, but Ichigo managed to quickly block it.

"Get out of my way!"

"Did you honestly think I was going to let you go? Just like that?" the purple-haired man asked. "I don't think so." With a forcefully shove he managed to push Ichigo back several meters.

"I don't have time for this," Ichigo said through grit teeth. Blue reiatsu began to swirl around Ichigo as he hefted Zangetsu above his head. "Move now."

"No."

Ichigo growled in frustration. "Getsuga Tenshou!" He swung his blade.

000

Senna flipped backwards, dodging the pseudo-Blanks as they clawed at her. She then took her zanpaktou and stabbed it to the side, piercing through another pseudo-Blank, then quickly tearing through it and slicing through several more in a complete arc motion.

She then quickly jumped to the side and cut at several more as they attacker her.

She then heard clapping. "Very good Senna." Said girl turned around to see a group of pseudo-Blanks part to allow Shimofuri to pass.

"Oh, it's you," Senna darkly said, narrowing her eyes at the man's sudden appearance. "I thought I smelled something rotten."

"Hn, that's rather rude isn't it? What have done I done to deserve such a greeting."

"You sent these Blanks to attack my friends, then attacked them personally with your goons, attacked the Sereitei, and you're also trying to kill me," Senna said, listing each offense by pointing out her fingers.

"Well, if you want to count those," he said, before vanishing. Senna gasped at his disappearance. "Behind you," he said, reappearing behind her suddenly. He swung his blade, but Senna brought her blade up and blocked it, albeit was pushed back and thrown into a wall. "Annoying girl. Give up and die."

"I can still fight," Senna said, standing up and holding her blade up. She then quickly dashed forward and jabbed her blade forward, but Shimofuri knocked it away and aimed for crashing the hilt of his sword into the crown of her skull.

But Senna quickly moved out of the way and pulled her sword back, trying to have to cut at him, but Shimofuri quickly used shunpo and jumped back. He then ran forward and swung down, but Senna used her own shunpo to appear at his side and stabbed at him, but Shimofuri dodged to the side as the blade passed right past him and grabbed her wrist.

"Now fade away," he said, raising his blade, ready to cleave Senna in half, but she shot up her hand, a red glow lighting in her palm, and a massive explosion fired from her hand, sending the both of them to the opposing walls.

"I still suck at kido," she dizzily said, little swirls in her eyes. After several moments to recompose herself, she stood up and clutched her arm. Her sleeve was blasted away and her arm was slightly burned. It hurt, but she was sure she could work around it.

Suddenly, she was kicked in the stomach and sent through the remains of the wall and into the wall in the next street.

"Keep your attention on your opponent," Shimofuri said, stepping though the walls.

"Call forth upon the twilight, Mirokumaru!" Senna said, her zanpaktou shifting size and weight until it began a staff. She then flew forward, spinning the staff in her good hand and brining it down, but Shimofuri brought his blade up and blocked the attack, but the extra boost from the gust of wind that barreled down on him pushed him to his knees. Senna then flipped the staff around and brought the other end, the bladed end, up at him, slicing at his chest.

"Damn," he cursed.

"Got you." Senna then pulled the blade back and stabbed it forward, aiming for his heart, but he moved to the side, so the attack struck him in the shoulder, something less damaging then the alternative. He then sliced at her, sending her back and crashing to the ground. "Shit," she cursed, wincing at the pain.

"You're strong," he said. "At vice-captain level maybe, but nonetheless you cannot defeat me." Shimofuri pointed his blade at Senna. "Now, to end your life."

"Why," she asked, daggers shooting from her eyes.

"Why what?"

"Why you want to kill me? I've never met you before! So why do you want me dead! What have I done!"

The wind blew slightly as Shimofuri lowered his head, a moonlit shadow cast over his eye. "You wish to know why we wish for your death?" he asked. "Very well, I will tell you why I, and the others, wish to end your life."

Please review

Mrfipp


	28. Miasma Mayhem

Fipp: This was a very fun chapter to write.

Also, regarding to the new arc, since Inoue's Shun Shun Rikka are composed of six spirits, and Hachi commented that they were similar to a zanpaktou, does this mean they'll turn on her if she enters Soul Society?

Also, check out my new Bleach one-shot, 'Shikai'.

Autumn Arc: Miasma Mayhem

"A captain huh?" Aka asked, staring Kurotsuchi Mayuri down.

"Hai, I am," he answered, also staring her down.

"Then I guess this means this is going to be some fight huh?"

"I suppose so, but I am not at all interested in the fight itself."

Aka cocked an eyebrow. "Really? Then what?"

"You see that building behind me?" Mayuri pointed to the destroyed building behind him.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Do you have any idea as to what that building is?" he said, anger staring to peak into his voice. "Not only am I Captain of Squad Twelve, but I also the President of the Bureau of Research and Development, and that building back there is said building!"

"So I destroyed your labs then?" Aka asked with indifference.

"Exactly," Mayuri growled, drawing his zanpaktou from its sheath. "And your going to pay for it." The blade had now fully left the sheath and was hanging in front of him. "Rip, Ashisogi Jizo." The blade began to glow a dull purple, and started to leak purple mist as it transformed into its trident-like Shikai form. "Die." Mayuri then vanished in a bust of shunpo to reappear in front of Aka and swung his sword, but the woman quickly jumped back and into the air.

Aka then landed on the top of one of the taller pillars and began to throw her rope darts at Mayuri at rapid speeds, leaving the captain no room for any counter-attacks as he dodged the sharp retractable projectiles.

'_Damn it,' _he thought, quickly jumping out of the way of another attack. _'Her attacks are too fast, and being able to fight from a distance puts me at a sort of disadvantage." _Mayuri gave this several moments thought before an idea came to mind. He grinned as he pointed out his palm not at Aka herself, but at the base of the pillar she was standing on. "Hado 63: Raikoho!" A massive wave of yellow reiatsu then shot from his hand and launched itself at the pillar, taking it out.

"Crap!" Aka cursed, clumsily jumping off the collapsing pillar. She managed to regain her balance in the air and looked down to the field for her opponent, but the dust that had risen from the collapsed pillar created a visual barrier for her, making him invisible.

Suddenly, something quickly shot out of the dust and impaled itself into her side. She cursed in pain and spat out blood as she looked down at what had hit her; a small, scythe-like weapon with a long organic-looking rope attacked to the end, leading back to the dust.

"I've got you!" Mayuri yelled, jumping up and pulling on the kusarigama that came out of his ear, this pulling Aka towards him. He raised Ashisogi Jizo for the kill, did not notice the small light that went from him, and into her, and swung.

He hit nothing.

"What?" he asked himself, seeing the end of the kusarigama held nothing but Aka's blood. "Where did she go?" He landed on the ground on the other side of the wall.

"Are you looking for me, Taichou?" The walls and buildings around him began dissolve into small particles of light that flew through the air into one central direction. Mayuri turned around to see Aka standing down the street from him, but now with a different appearance.

Her hair was now lighter in color, appearing to be pink, and her skin and darkened and taken on a rough texture, now looking like stone. The particles were flying to her wounded side, and gradually the bleeding stopped.

"What is this?" Mayuri asked, eyes widening.

Aka chuckled before her body completely vanished, leaving only a rippling affect in the air.

Several second later she appeared several hundred feet behind Mayuri and threw one of her rope dart, aiming for his head. "Farewell," she said.

The dart flew through the sky, slicing through the air and made its way only a foot from Mayuri's head.

Then he moved his head to his left, he quickly dropped the kusarigama and grabbed the rope. He then spun around and pointed his zanpaktou at a very surprised Aka, and to further her feelings, his sword-wielding arm then shot forward at rapid speeds, and the next things she knew, Ashisogi Jizo had stabbed her in the left shoulder.

"Dammit!" she cursed, falling to the ground with a crash. "How did he dodge?" She struggled to get up, her left arm going completely numb.

"How you asked?" Mayuri asked, retracting his sword-arm and dropping the dart-rope with the other. "The answer is quite simple really; I came prepared."

"Prepared?" Aka said through grit teeth, pulling back her remaining rope dart with her one good arm. "How did you prepare you bastard!"

"Would you like to know something?" Mayuri asked, answering before she could respond. "Around the Sereitei I have a number of subordinates with special microscopic organisms in them that relay information to me. When you attacked I sent these people out so they could locate you and get you to release your power.

"One of these men was able to conceal himself as he watched one of you battle with Komamura-taichou. So I know all about your ability to take the shape of a person from our memories." Mayuri tapped his head several times.

"But how did you know when to dodge?"

"I prepared for it, didn't you hear me? But, I suppose I will have to elaborate for you." Aka growled at the insult. "When I discovered you could copy the people in our memories, I preformed several body modifications on myself that would allow me to counter-act whosever you mimicked."

Aka's eyes widened. "What?" she asked in shock.

"I had only manage to complete several counter-measures when you attacked," Mayuri continued. "It would appear that luck has smiled down on me that the person you chose, the Bount I once fought, was your choice. The only other two I had manage to prepare against was the Quincy of Squad Three and an excuse-of-a-scientist arrancar.

"This particular counter-measure allows me to sense where you will reappear after you slip into the other dimension for a radius about five-hundred meters." Mayuri's fingers flexed in excitement. "Meaning you're useless now."

"Damn you," Aka growled. "Damn you!" She then shot forward, aiming the remaining dart at him, but he easily moved out of the side and threw the kusarigama at her, stabbing it into her back.

"Hado 11: Tsuzuri Raiden." Suddenly an electric shock flowed through the ligament and shocked her. She screamed in pain and threw the dart and severed the rope to cut the rope, and vanished again.

Mayuri sighed in boredom and turned around to see Aka appear again, yanking the severed weapon from her back and throwing it into the ground, the blade embedding itself deep into the street.

"I am going to kill you shinigami!" she yelled. She was about to attack him when she felt something wrap around her leg. Aka looked down to see the severed end of the kusarigama was now moving on its own and now holding her in place. She tried to rip a rift in space to escape but she couldn't. The damn organic weapon was holding her back!

"I grow bored with this now," Mayuri said, lifting his zanpaktou. "Bankai." His zanpaktou began to glow red as a massive shape began to take form behind the captain.

The light sounds of bells rang through the air, mingled with the pained cry of an infant.

"Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo!" The large, grotesque caterpillar-thing stood tall, looming over Aka, who stared at it with fear as it poured poison into the air. "Kill her." The Bankai gave a cry as dozens of jagged blade erupted from its chest. It then crashed to the ground and charged at Aka, who screamed in terror.

Moments later, the Bankai had not only crashed into Aka, but had managed to utterly demolish everything behind her.

"And I didn't gain anything interesting from this fight," Mayuri said, sealing Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo back into its sealed state, though poison still lingered in the air. He began to walk away when he suddenly turned around and was struck in the chest and crashed into a wall. He spat blood and looked down to see a rope dart impaling his chest.

Right where his heart would be.

"I told you I'd kill you, shinigami." Mayuri looked up to see Aka.

She was heavily bleeding, even the gathering of the reishi in the air couldn't reverse what had been done to her, and her leg was missing from the knee down. Mayuri correctly guessed that she had severed it in an attempt to get away from his Bankai.

"Dammit," Mayuri said, coughing up blood and making several wretched choking noises before keeling forward.

"I win," she staggered, hopping forward until she was in front of his face. "You loose."

"Really?" Mayuri asked, popping head up, eyes twirling about while his tongue stuck out.

Aka screamed and fell backwards. "I got you in the heart! You should be dead!" she coughed.

"That's how it should be, shouldn't it?" he asked, pulling the rope dart from his chest. "But you see, that is not where my heart it." He kneeled down next to the downed Aka. "Several decades ago, I decided to reposition my internal organs, just incase I meet someone who would attack me in the heart, much like you."

"Dammit," Aka cursed, her breathing becoming heavily taxing on her body.

"Looks like the poison is going to kill you," Mayuri taunted. "It's too bad you don't have the antidote for that particular poison, much like this one." He reached into his robes and pulled out a small blue vial. "If you drank this, you would be okay."

Aka reached out for the potion, only for Mayuri to pull it back.

"Now, now, I don't just give things away," he said gleefully. "Tell me, do you have any other abilities that you wish to show me?"

Aka only stared at him with fright.

Mayuri sighed. "It appears you don't," The captain stood up and walked away, ignoring Aka's screams as she dissolved into red particles.

"Mayuri-sama!" He turned to his left to see Nemu run towards him.

"Nemu, have you taken a complete inventory on what was damaged?"

"Yes Mayuri-sama," she bowed. "I am sorry, but the damage to our labs were extensive."

"Damn," he growled, storming forward.

"Mayuri-sama," Nemu asked, halting her captain in his tracks. "What about the rest of the ryoka?"

"Let the others deal with them," Mayuri said, waving her off.

000

"Move!" Ichigo yelled, pushing Kasshoku back. "I don't have time for this!"

"That's too bad shinigami," Kasshoku said. "I'm supposed to keep you here until all is done."

Ichigo tightened his grip on Zangetsu. "Bastard," he spat.

"Regardless to what you think," Kasshoku said, "you're going to die." He then quickly ran forward, ready to attack Ichigo, the latter ready to defend.

Suddenly, a massive wave of ice rushed between the two, halting either's movements.

"What the hell?" Kasshoku asked, landing on the ground.

"Go you fool!" Ichigo looked up to the direction where the ice originated.

"Rukia!" he called.

"I said go fool!" she yelled. "Senna is that way, so hurry!" Rukia pointed in the appropriate direction with Sode no Shirayuki, already in its Shikai. "I'll handle him!"

Ichigo hesitated for several moments before nodding, and in a quick use of shunpo, he was gone.

"Looks like I'll have to deal with you now, huh?" Kasshoku asked, slightly annoyed. "I saw you at the graveyard, but I never caught your name."

Rukia jumped down from the frozen wave and to the ground. "Kuchiki Rukia, Vice-Captain of Squad 13."

"Well Kuchiki, get ready to die." Kasshoku absorbed a memory.

Please review

Mrfipp


	29. Ready to Die

Fipp: The namesake for the chapter is a song by Andrew W.K.. It's a good song which really fits Kenpachi.

Autumn Arc: Ready to Die

"You just came through the fucking wall," Midoriiro said in disbelief at the captain's sudden appearance.

"Yeah, that was really fun," Kenpachi said with an amused grind. "What's your point?"

"Who the hell crashes through a wall?!"

"What? It's not like I could have gotten to you by going around it."

"You knew I was here?"

"Uh, yeah! Of course I did! I'm a captain! I'm a great tracker!" Kenpachi laughed.

_What actually happened . . ._

"_Where the hell are we?!" Kenpachi yelled to Yachiru, who was running in front of him._

"_We're looking form someone to fight! Duh," Yachiru replied, slightly offended that Kenpachi was questioning her._

"_We've been looking for ten minutes! And I'm sure that we've passed that hole in the wall before!"_

_Yachiru suddenly slid to a stop, giving Kenpachi almost no time to stop in his own tracks until he was hovering over her. "Well, if you're going to insult my expert navigational skills," she said, arms over her chest, "then you can just find them on your own."_

_And with that, Yachiru vanished in a swift use of shunpo._

_Kenpachi now stood there, blank face, being left with no guide, albeit the guide in question sucked. With a growl of frustration Kenpachi heaved his sword into the air and attacked the closest thing to him._

_A wall._

_And on the other side of the wall is where he met Midoriiro_

000

"Yup," Kenpachi said. "Expert tracker."

"Okay then," Midoriiro replied lamely.

. . .

"Now, raise your sword!" The captain pointed his blade at the invader. "Draw it so I can kill you."

"Sword?" Midoriiro raised an eyebrow. "I don't have a sword."

"You don't?" Kenpachi lowered his sword in disappointment.

"Nope, I'm not good with them, but, I have these." Midoriiro quickly threw a bomb that landed at Kenpachi's feet.

Kenpachi raised an eyebrow. "What the hell is-"

The bomb exploded, sending Kenpachi into the air, where we was met with another bomb and blown forcibly to the ground.

"How do you like that!" Midoriiro laughed.

"Dammit," Kenpachi said as he stood up, ignoring the burning sensation all over his body. "Looks like this is going to be fun after all. Now all I have to do is catch you."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you're not going to do that." Midoriiro then tossed dozens of bombs down at Kenpachi, who quickly ran to avoid the spheres as the exploded into massive plumes of fire.

He stopped in his tracks when bombs were suddenly being thrown in front of him, blocking his exit. He quickly dashed to the right, the left being a wall, and ran towards Midoriiro, but he was met with another explosion, this one much large then the others.

Soon, the whole area was engulfed in massive flames.

"Hn," Midoriiro sneered. "Is that all you were capable of? If it wasn't nearly enough to-"

The flames then exploded away as Kenpachi, badly burned and his robes mostly burned away, rushed at him and thrust his sword at him. Midoriiro quickly dodged to the side, but was met with Kenpachi's first and was sent into the air.

Kenpachi then jumped after him, quickly appearing above him and swung his blade down, striking Midoriiro in the chest and sending him crashing into one of the below buildings.

He wasn't paying enough attention to notice the small ball of light that left this body and flew towards where Midoriiro landed.

Kenpachi laughed and threw himself down at Midoriiro, when he was just above the target, he swung his sword down, but instead of slicing through flesh, he hit metal.

"Huh?" Kenpachi blinked. The dust began to clear and Kenpachi could see that his sword was stopped by a large curved blade. "I thought you said you didn't have a sword.

There was then a bright golden glow forming through the dust, and the next think Kenpachi knew, he was engulfed in a massive beam that blasted him away, and through several walls before finally crashing to a stop.

"What the hell was that?" Kenpachi growled, trying to get up. The captain looked across the large gaps in the walls to where Midoriiro was, and through the settling dust he could see a large crescent shape.

"Heh, is that all you got shinigami?" Midoriiro asked, stepping out of the dust, and Kenpachi's eyes widened at the change in appearance.

His arms, now counting six, were now covered in white armor, with four of them holding a large scythe while the other two still held bombs, and two horns now ran through his head, resembling a crescent moon.

"Nnoitra Jigura," Kenpachi said, memories of the fierce Espada running through his mind.

"Correct," Midoriiro said, ginning and he pointed his scythes at the captain. "You see, I was able to-"

"Who cares," Kenpachi said abruptly.

"What?"

"I said who cares!" Kenpachi laughed loudly. "I couldn't care less as to how your power works, all that matters is that since you look like Nnoitra, and used his cero, you may be able to use his others powers which is great! Nnoitra was one of the best battles I've ever had, so I'd appreciate it if you just shut your mouth and start the fight!"

"Very well shinigami!" Midoriiro yelled, rushing at Kenpachi, and vise-versa.

The two met each other and sparks flew as their blades clashed against each other, each one with a grin on their faces.

Kenpachi managed to slip his sword through Midoriiro's defense and attack him directly, but only managed to make a small cut on him.

The green-haired man then quickly spun around, attacking Kenpachi multiple times with spinning blades, then threw several bombs at him, each one creating massive explosion. He then jumped into the air and swung his blades down, slashing Kenpachi up before blasting him into the air with another cero, then slicing at him again when he fell to the ground.

"Nnoitra didn't use bombs," Kenpachi said, trying to stand up.

"No shit," Midoriiro sneered. "You're a monster, it'd be suicide to use nothing but physical attacks on you, even in this state. So I'm going to have to use all of my techniques to kill you!"

Midoriiro ran forward and kicked Kenpachi away, only to drag him back in by hooking one of the scythes around his back and slicing at him again. He raised two of his scythes to finish off Kenpachi when the captain quickly stabbed at Midoriiro in the chest, only going in through an inch, and pushed him to the wall, and then through the wall.

Kenpachi then quickly dashed at Midoriiro and brought his blade down, only for it to be blocked by the four scythes. He continued to push down until Midoriiro was forced to the ground. Seeing he was loosing the battles, Midoriiro quickly set off a bomb, throwing Kenpachi into the air, albeit causing himself damage.

Midoriiro then quickly got up and jumped after Kenpachi, making for an attempt to cut him down, but Kenpachi beat him to it and caught one of his arms and sliced said limb off, and used the scythe in that arm to strike at Midoriiro and throw him to the ground.

The green-haired man then quickly jumped back up as Kenpachi crashed to the ground for an attack, regenerated his lost arm and attacked at Kenpachi. The captain then swung his blades again, this time causing a much larger gash down Midoriiro's front. The man cursed before blasting Kenpachi with a large cero and sent him into the air, above one of the tower.

Midoriiro then quickly ran forward, running up the tower and jumped above Kenpachi and blasted him with another cero, sending him crashing down the tower, along with a dozen bombs.

Midoriiro landed back on the ground as the tower exploded, collapsing in flames, the captain with it.

He then laughed as the flames burned for several moments before calming down. "Tch, he wasn't really that tough." Midoriiro slung one of the scythes over his shoulder and began to walk away.

Suddenly a heavy pressure began to fill the air. Midoriiro turned around to the tower, the flames being smothered under the pressure, and suddenly a massive yellow skull of reiatsu appeared above the rubble, before it exploded.

Midoriiro wasn't too sure about what happened, but the next thing he knew, there was a massive slash down his front, and he was thrown into a building.

"Now this is getting fun," said a grinning, heavily injured, patch-less Kenpachi, reiatsu flowing around him like a torrent. "That last attack almost did me in."

"Damn you," Midoriiro spat, standing up. "Why won't you die!" Midoriiro yelled as he ran forward. "DIE SHINIGAMI!"

"Tch," Kenpachi said as he raised his blade in both hands, then brought it down at Midoriiro attacked.

Their blades clashed against each other, creating a massive explosion of reiatsu that blew away the nearby buildings and lit up the night sky in an explosion of gold.

When the light faded, Kenpachi stood alone while Midoriiro, nearly cleaved in half, laid at his feet.

"Now that fight, was fun," Kenpachi said, before falling over into a state of unconsciousness while Midoriiro faded away into green particles.

Several seconds passed before a petite figure appeared next to the captain.

"Ne, Ken-chan, you alive?" Yachiru said, bending down and poking the larger man. "Meh, looks like you managed to find someone to fight after all." She then hefted him over her shoulders with no effort on her part. "Now to see if I can find Nel-chan to patch you up."

She then quickly dashed away, leaving a cloud of dust in her tracks.

000

Maniacal laughter ran though the air as Rukia was thrown into a building. She managed to managed to jump away just as numerous blades rained down on her.

She quickly landed on the roof and look up as Kasshoku landed on the roof, his appearance changed due to the memory absorbed from Rukia's mind.

There was now a scar running down his face, several warts on his face while a large number of blades jutted out of his back. He had taken her memory of the assassin Jinnai Doko, who was sent to kill Kasumioji Lurichiyo, during the time Amagai Shusuke was captain of Squad Three.

"I'm really disappointed you know!" Kasshoku cackled.

"Why is that?" Rukia asked, panting while numerous cuts covered her body.

"I was really hoping to fight that captain, Kurosaki, because I wanted to test myself against a Bankai, and since the thirteen captains are the only ones who know that technique, I can't really test myself."

"You're only half-right there," Rukia said.

"Really? How's that?"

"While it's true, there are only thirteen people in the Gotei 13 who are capable of Bankai, only ten of them are captains. One of the three captains who cannot perform Bankai does not know the name of his zanpaktou, while the other two, one of whom is my own captain, are arrancars, thus making it impossible for them to perform it."

"Hn, then who are the other three who can use Bankai?"

Rukia narrowed her eyes. "A third seat, and the vice-captain of captain you just wanted to fight."

"And the third?"

Rukia held Sode no Shirayuki in front of her with the blade pointed down, while the long white ribbon on the pommel's end encircled her. Light-blue reiatsu began to flow off of her and she said one word. "Bankai."

Please review

Mrfipp


	30. The Most Beautiful Ice Bankai

Fipp: And now for my second, and favorite, original Bankai design.

Autumn Arc: The Most Beautiful Ice Bankai

"Bankai."

A massive blue reiatsu poured off of Rukia as snow and ice began to spin around her, soon obstructing Kasshoku's view of her.

"Bankai?" he asked, then grinned. "This is going to be real fun if you are able to use such a technique as Bankai." He shifted his blades. "Let's see your blade's final form."

The cloud of snow and ice then blew off of Rukia, sending a cool wave of air throughout the area, and Rukia's Bankai was revealed.

Much similar to the Bankai of Kurosaki Ichigo, she now wore a cloak, though it contrasted his in being pure white with a hood, white gloves and a soft, white fluff that coated the edges of the cloak. Sode no Shirayuki had also taken a new form in the shape of a long, crystalline, ice-staff. Underneath the hood, he could see a blue pentagon hairclip with a white star on it. (1)

"Tokomizore Shirayuki." (2) She then swung the staff, sending another breeze out.

"That's your Bankai?" Kasshoku asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yes it is," Rukia answered.

"It's funny, I heard that a Bankai normally takes the form of a large weapon, or creature, or something like that, but yours doesn't."

"Regardless of what you think, this is still a Bankai."

"If you say so," Kasshoku said, spinning his sais. "Let's go!" He then rushed at Rukia, blades growing from his arms and swung down at her, only to be blocked by the ice-staff. He kept slashing them down on her, pushing her back until she managed to disengage from the attacks

"Koui Ichi: Tousou!" (3) Rukia called out, her staff now taking on a white sheen to it. She then charged at Kasshoku and clashed her weapon against the blades on his wrist.

"You're going to have to do better then that," he sneered.

"Take a better look," Rukia said, looking down. Kasshoku followed her stare down to his blades; now iced-over.

"What the-" The blades shattered into a millions sparkling pieces.

"The first act," Rukia said, giving the staff several spins in her hand. "Turns all weapons that come in contact with my Bankai into ice, making it easy to shatter."

"Really? Well, I have more where that came from." More blades erupted from his body. "Come on!" He then jumped into the air and swung his arms, hurdling down thousands of blades on her.

Rukia quickly shunpoed back as far as she could and swung her staff.

"Koui Nii: Shiroenko!" (4) Suddenly a massive waves of ice erupted from the staff, forming a large crescent at him. Kasshoku quickly pulled the sais back and jabbed them forward in time at the wave crashed down on him.

The ice then shattered apart and Kasshoku dashed forward at Rukia and attacked again, striking at her shoulders. The red blood staining the pure white of her Bankai robe.

Kasshoku then jumped into the air and tossed down a number of blades down at her. Rukia quickly deflected the ones that came from above, but the others were bounced off the ground and heading right for her.

"Try and dodge that!" Kasshoku yelled.

"Koui San: Touketsunami!"(5) Rukia called out, jabbed the ground with her staff. Four large waves of ice shot out from all sides, freezing the blades in their paths.

"Now this!" Kasshoku yelled as he attack from above. Rukia quickly jumped to the side as he crashed to the ground, the resulting shockwaves shattering the surrounding ice and coating the area in cool mist.

"Where'd he go?" she asked, looking around. She then dodged to the side as Kasshoku attacked from behind. She then pushed him away with the staff and thrust her free hand out. "Bakudo 30: Shitotsu Sansen!" She traced her arm in the air, creating a large triangle with glowing points. The points then fired at Kasshoku, hitting him in the waist and shoulders, pinning him to the wall of a nearby building.

"Dammit," he cursed.

Rukia then began to spin her staff as the ends began to glow bright blue. "Hado 63: Soren Sokatsui!" She stopped the staff's spinning, making it horizontal. The two glows then fired at Kasshoku, uniting in a powerful lightning blast.

Seeing this, Kasshoku's body erupted in blades, from head to toe, destroying the wall behind him and freeing him from both spells. He jumped into the air and threw himself at Rukia and sliced at her. Rukia quickly defected the attack and shoved the staff at him, but he crossed the sais, catching the staff.

He then quickly let go of the blades and grabbed Rukia by the wrist and pulled her towards him until she was pressed against his body.

He grinned as he shot blades out of his body, piercing Rukia.

Her eyes widened as she coughed blood. He then grabbed her by the hair and threw her to a wall and shot out several blades that pinned Rukia to the wall through her shoulders, legs and stomach.

Rukia raised her staff when another blade flew out and pierced her wrist to the wall. She tired to make a Kido spell, but another blade went through her palm.

"Dammit," Rukia rasped.

"Can't move now can you?" Kasshoku asked. "Of course you can't. Any last words?" A blade shot from his arms

"K-K-K-" Rukia tried.

"I have no idea what any of that means." He raised the blades and pointed it at Rukia. "Goodbye." He charged.

"Koui Yon: Yukihakuhen." (6)

Kasshoku shoved the blade right into Rukia's throat.

"Couldn't act quick enough, could you? Wait, what?"

Instead of bleeding, Rukia's whole body turned white, and began to crumble, turning into small specks of snow that floated away from Kasshoku.

The snowflakes flew across the battlefield, swirling into a mass until they had reformed into Rukia.

"My Bankai's fourth Act," she said through hazy breath. "It allows me to break down my body into small snowflakes that I can reform, though it doesn't heal my wounds."

"You sure have a lot of tricks, anymore I need to know about?" Kasshoku pulled the blade out of the wall.

"Yes, one more. But I don't want to use it."

"Why's that?"

Rukia did not reply, instead she placed the end of her staff against the ground, and her palm on the other end.

"No!" Kasshoku ran forward, blades coming out of his body, ready to kill her.

"Koui Go: Reido." (7) She tapped the center of her weapon, and it shattered in millions of pieces, and a massive tower of ice erupted from each fragment, sending ice in all directions.

Rukia looked up at Kasshoku, frozen in the massive wall of ice.

"Because it destroys my weapon." She then placed her hand on the ice. "But," the ice began to crack. "That doesn't matter right now." The tower suddenly exploded into small snowflakes that slowly floated down on the Seireitei, coating it in a thin layer of snow, destroying Kasshoku's body in the process.

Rukia smiled to herself at her victory, before collapsing forward.

Several moments later, a large number of pseudo-Blanks appeared around her.

Rukia cursed at herself, having no way to defend herself from the enemies; her injures too grave and her weapon lost.

She knew she was going to die here.

"Bakudo 81: Danku!" Suddenly, a large rectangular glass-like shield appeared above her horizontally.

"What, the-?" Rukia tried to see who cast the spell.

"Hado 88: Hiryugekizokushintenraiho!" A massive blast of lightning shot from the sky, incinerating every single pseudo-Blank in the area. The attack would have killed her too, but the Danku above her stopped all Hado spells up to Level 89.

"Who-?"

"Kuchiki-san!" cried a voice. Rukia heard someone running towards her.

"H-Hinamori?" Rukia turned her head to see Ichigo's vice-captain running towards her.

Hinamori then slid to a stop, the Danku shattering above them, and stopping next to Rukia. "Kuchiki-san are you alright!" she cried.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Rukia tried to prove her point by getting up, but failed and fell back down.

"You're too injured," Hinamori said, carefully rolling Rukia onto her back. "Let me heal you."

"Fine," Rukia sighed as Hinamori began a healing Kido. "What are you doing here, Hinamori?"

"Oh, I was in the area, helping civilians out of the area and destroying the invading monsters. Then I felt your reiatsu drop to a dangerous level so I came to help."

"Ah, thank you, Hinamori."

"What happened to you exactly?"

"I got a little over my head in helping that baka."

Hinamori raised an eyebrow. "Kurosaki-san?"

Rukia chuckled. "Yes, he went after Senna."

"You think he'll be okay?"

"Of course he will." Rukia closed her eyes and allowed herself a small smile. "He's just too stubborn to die while saving his friends.

000

"What?" Senna asked, trying to absorb what she had just been told.

"Now, do you understand?" Shimofuri asked. "That, is why we are after you."

"But, but," Senna squeezed her eyes tight, trying to say something, anything that would make sense of the situation, but nothing came to mind.

"Do not try and say anything, it will be meaningless." He then jumped at Senna, and thrust his blade at her.

Metal stabbed metal.

Senna opened her eyes to see Shimofuri's sword stopped by the flat side of a cleaver-like sword.

"I-Ichigo," Senna said.

Between her and Shimofuri, stood Kurosaki Ichigo.

(1) The hairclip was added after learning about Sode no Shirayuki's manifestation.

(2) Endless Sleeting White Snow

(3) Act One: Frostbite

(4) Act Two: White Arc

(5) Act Three: Frozen Wave

(6) Act Four: Snowflake

(7) Act Five: Absolute Zero

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Mrfipp


	31. Familiar Face

Fipp: I saw the dubbed Bleach last night, and I have to say that I just love the new voices, especially for Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka.

Man, I really hope those guys meet up soon again.

Autumn Arc: Familiar Face

"I-Ichigo," Senna gasped at the sudden appearance.

"You," Shimofuri hissed. He tried to press forward, but Ichigo quickly pushed him back. "I was hoping to get this all done right here and now, but looks like I'll have to get through you first then."

"Senna," Ichigo said, keeping his eyes on Shimofuri. "Come here."

"Yeah," Senna took several steps forward, and Ichigo brought Zangetsu up, and hit Senna on the top of the head with the end of the pommel. "AGH! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!?!" she comically yelled at Ichigo, nursing the large bump on her head.

"BAKA!" Ichigo yelled back. "What the hell did I tell you about running off?!"

"That's still no reason to hit me!"

"Like hell it is!"

"I wanted to deal with this by myself, you didn't have to even come! I was handling everything by myself just fine." Senna crossed her arms over her chest.

"You were just about to get stabbed! How the hell is that doing fine by yourself?! If I hadn't had come you would have been skewered!"

Senna game Ichigo a bored look. "Wow, Rukia was right; you do have a hero complex."

"W-What?" Ichigo stuttered. "What the hell is a hero complex?"

"It's something where a person has the uncontrollable urge to save people."

"I do not have anything like that!" Ichigo pointed at Senna.

"Yes you do! You saved Rukia, twice, Orihime, this Lurichiyo girl, tired to save Nelliel from that spoon-guy, and this is you second attempt to save me."

"Well what do you want me to do? Just sit around and do nothing? I'm supposed to be the hero!"

"HA! So you admit it!"

"GODDAMMIT!" Ichigo grabbed his head in frustration. "That's not what I meant!"

Shimofuri looked at the two with bored eyes. He heavily sighed. "Kurosaki!" Shimofuri yelled, gaining the attention of both Ichigo and Senna, breaking them out of their argument. "Will you let me have the young lady, or not?"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes and picked up Zangetsu.

"I suppose that is your answer then." Shimofuri the pointed his sword at Ichigo. A small ball of light flew from the captain and into the point of the sword.

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked, as large white spikes shot from Shimofuri's shoulders.

"He took your memories," Senna answered solemnly as Shimofuri's skin tone grew pale. "He took the memory of a person you fought in the past and is taking their abilities for his own."

At first, Ichigo was curious about who Shimofuri had copied, but his question was answered as several maroon lines grew on the left side of Shimofuri's face.

"My Hollow."

"That is right," Shimofuri laughed. "And from what I can tell, it's been a long while since you last seem him, hasn't it?

"Yeah, it has. A few years after I became a captain." Ichigo raised his blade and grabbed with the handle with both hands. "Bankai!"

Black reiatsu poured off of Ichigo, wrapped around him before ripping off.

Shimofuri grinned.

"Tensa Zangetsu," Ichigo said, holding the black katana to the side, the white captain's haori fitting perfectly against this Bankai robes. "And I thought third time would have been the charm."

_Flashback . . ._

_The world was on its side. Dark rain clouds pouring rain on the skyscrapers._

_There was a massive explosion of black and white, tearing up the large buildings._

_The smoke cleared and two figures stood, each one torn up from a furious battle._

"_Dammit," one of the figures hissed. "How could this have happened?" The figure stood up on shaky legs, his Bankai clock in shreds. "I am supposed to be the King! And you the Horse!"_

_Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the Hollow, a mirror image of him with opposite color scheme. The white Tensa Zangetsu sword, robes, and the black captain haori with white inside lining and squad symbol on back._

"_You wanted my body, and my power to destroy everything that I hold dead," Ichigo said, his Hollow's yellow eyes staring at him with pure hate. "Everything ends here."_

"_You think this is it?" the Hollow chuckled. "You think this is it?!" It burst into maniacal laughter. "Don't you get it King! It will never be over! The only way to kill me would be if you were to die! And I highly doubt that you would throw away your own life, now would you? You just don't-"_

_Ichigo suddenly vanished from view._

_And reappeared behind the Hollow._

_It looked down to its torso, just in time to see it erupt in blood. It then turned back to Ichigo with wide eyes._

"_After this," Ichigo said, not turning to the Hollow. "I'm using your power to protect those I care about."_

"_Ironic," the Hollow said with a grin, the rain stopping, the clouds clearing up and sun shining. "I don't know how, but I'll be back." _

_Cracks began to form over its body, and it exploded in shreds of darkness as it left in maniacal laughter._

_000_

"It has been a while," Ichigo said, mostly to himself. "Senna,"

"I'm not falling for that again," she said, taking several steps back, covering her head.

"No, not that. Stay there."

"Hey! I-"

Ichigo then shunpoed forward, striking at Shimofuri's blade. He pushed the man back and attacked again, only to be blocked again as the two exchanged blows with each other.

Shimofuri quickly side-stepped one of Ichigo's attacks and stabbed forward, only to for him to vanished and reappear above him.

"Getsuga," Ichigo called, darkness wrapped around his blade, "Tenshou!" He then swung the sword, sending the massive arc of darkness at Shimofuri, destroying the ground.

"Too slow!" Shimofuri yelled, appearing behind Ichigo. "But two can play it at that game. Getsuga Tenshou!" A massive white-red arc then erupted from Shimofuri's blade and flew at Ichigo.

But the captain quickly spun around and sliced at it with his blade, cutting it in half.

"That's not going to cut it," Ichigo said, as both her and Shimofuri landed on the ground. "If you want to beat me, you're going to have to do a lot better then that."

"Hn, what makes you even think I'm-" Shimofuri stopped in mid-sentence. He looked around the area several before turning his eyes back to Ichigo. "They're dead, aren't they?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"The people I came with; Aoi, Aka, Midoriiro and Kasshoku. Aren't they?"

"I don't know, I was never good at sensing a person's reiatsu, but someone fought me before Rukia took over the battle so I could look for Senna, and stop you from killing her."

"Tell me, do you remember who it was?"

"Sorry, I never got a name."

"What about a face? Anything that would allow you to pick them out from a crowd?"

Ichigo thought for several moments. Who was it he fought? And he handed that guy off to Rukia, so she would have fought him, right? He had, white hair? No, it wasn't white. Or was it? And he used knives to fight? No, no knives. What did he fight with?

Why could he remember the face of a person he met under thirty minutes ago?

"No, no I don't," Ichigo said solemnly.

"You have no clear memory of them, is that so?" Shimofuri asked, looking up again. "This is the kind of thing I wanted not to happen." He gripped his sword tightly as his anger began to rise. "This is your fault as well as hers!" He swung his sword, sending a massive Getsuga Tenshou at Ichigo.

"Dammit!" Ichigo yelled, blocking the attack, only to have difficulty to the massive increase in power since the last strike.

"Too slow," Shimofuri hissed from behind Ichigo, before unleashing another attack, only to have Ichigo launch his own.

The two Getsuga Tenshous crashed into each other, creating a massive explosion.

Shimofuri quickly jumped back, readying another attack to end Ichigo when he was slashed across the chest, then blasted to the ground.

Ichigo then flew to the ground and swung his blade down, but Shimofuri blocked the blade with his own sword, one hand on the hilt while another against the flat side of the other side.

"Sorry," Ichigo said, pushing down on Shimofuri. "But you can't use my own technique on me. It just won't work." Ichigo half-grinned. "Maybe you shouldn't have copied my Hollow since I was able to beat him three times."

"Maybe you are right, Kurosaki," Shimofuri said, moving the hand near the tip of his sword more towards the center.

"Too bad it was all you were able to copy."

"Now, who said that was all I was able to copy?" Shimofuri pointed his index finger at Ichigo. A small blade orb appeared at the end while his eyes turned green. "Cero Oscuras."

Ichigo did not have enough time to react as the massive black cero, the signature attack of long-deceased Cuatro Espada, Ulquiorra Cifer, exploded from Shimofuri's finger, leaving a pitch black streak against the night sky, sending him into the air.

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Mrfipp


	32. Five on One

Fipp: Love's Shikai is perhaps the largest of any I have ever seen. I wonder what his Bankai is like?

I find Starrk's aspect of 'Loneliness' odd, since he is never alone. He needs his fraccion with him in order to release, and he can summon a large pack of wolves out of nowhere.

Autumn Arc: Five on One

The massive black streak was barely visible against the night sky, but the massive reiatsu could be felt all around the Sereitei

Inoue stopped in her tracks and looked up into the air.

"This, reiatsu," she said. "But,"

"Orihime!" Pesche yelled from behind her. Dondochakka was helping more of the injured onto Bawabawa's back. "We have to hurry! There are still many injured!"

"Um, okay, I'm coming! Sorry!" She turned around and ran after the Hollow, healing abilities ready to go.

She tried to keep her mind off the of reiatsu that hung heavily in the air.

After all, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust.

000

"What the hell," said Grimmjow, looking toward the city. "This can't be, that's me? What the hell has Kurosaki gotten himself into now?"

000

"Oi! Kira!" Renji called to the other captain, both of their weapons in their Shikai forms. "Looks like you've seen a ghost."

"Oh, it's nothing," Kira said, slightly worried.

000

"I think things are calming down now," Iba said, slinging his released zanpaktou over his shoulder, the evidence of the battle between the five vice-captains and the pseudo-Blanks evident from the damage all around them, though the battle tipped in the favor of the five.

"Yes, these creatures are coming in lesser numbers now," said Mosqueda, releasing his Ressurreccion.

"Good thing too," said Omaeda, nursing a large welt on his head. "Those things never ended!"

"Though the Sereitei may already know about these things," Sado said. "We should still probably get back as soon as possible. Isn't hat right Ishida?"

The Quincy did not answer, but only stared back up to the sky.

"This feeling," said Ishida, not paying attention. How could this reiatsu be? The people who had it died out almost a century ago.

"What is it Ishida?" Sado asked, snapping Ishida back to attention.

"Nothing. We have to hurry back, now."

000

Senna could only stare at the as the massive blast faded away. She tried to look for either Ichigo, to help, or Shimofuri, to attack, but the dust and smoke brought up by the attack made it impossible to see either.

Suddenly, a long white object found itself at her throat, tightening around her and stealing away her breath. She chocked for air as she tried to pry it away.

"You're not going anywhere," said Shimofuri from the dust.

Senna suddenly found herself being yanked high into the air.

000

The Cero Oscuras faded and a figure fell from the skies and crashed onto the Soukuyou Hill, skidding several times before finally crashing to a stop.

"Dammit," Ichigo growled as he tried to stand up. There were numerous cuts and burns all over his body, and his robes and haori were greatly torn. He picked back up Zangetsu, ready to go back down there and fight Shimofuri when he heard a scream.

He turned around just in time to see Senna crash to the ground.

"Senna!" he yelled, running towards her as she managed to stand back up. But his movements were halted when a number of white spike-like spears were thrown from above into the ground around her, forming a cage that she could not escape from. "What the hell is going on?"

Suddenly, a large winged, moonlit shadow appeared over him, covering a large amount of the ground.

"What is going on," said the voice of Shimofuri. Ichigo looked up to see a winged silhouette on the full moon. "Is my true power." The man lowered himself to the ground, giving Ichigo a look at his new appearance.

"What the-what's this?" he asked.

"You assumed I could only copy one person from your memories, and while this is true for the rest of my comrades, I am under no such limit. I can copy five people at once."

It took Ichigo several moments, but he could see the five people Shimofuri had copied.

His shirt was now removed, now revealing the large black Jokasho Crest tattoo on his upper-right chest, extending towards his shoulder, the same thing that Jin Kariya sported in his last day of life.

His legs were now slim and white, covered in armor and ending in black paws, while a long white tail swished behind him, just like Grimmjow's Pantera form.

Raika Goen Kaku, the Bankai of former Squad Three Captain, Amagai Shusuke, now rested in his left hand.

His eyes were green, with slit pupils, while the sclera was pitch-black, and growing from his upper-back were two large, hairy wings, all traits taken from the Segunda Etapa of Ulquiorra Cifer.

His face was more skull like now, sporting two vertical red lines, and two large, curved horns, like the second form his Hollow took.

He had taken five memories of some of the strongest people he had ever fought and mixed them all into one entity.

"So, Kurosaki Ichigo," Shimofuri said, waving his sword around in a casual manner. "How does it feel to be up against these people again?"

Ichigo gripped his sword tight. "I beat them once, so I can do it again!" Ichigo then shot forward, so fast that to the normal eye it would look like he just blinked out of existence.

He reappeared above of Shimofuri and swung his blade down, only to hit nothing.

"Oh so slow," Shimofuri said from behind Ichigo. He then pointed out his arm and shot a massive gust of wind at Ichigo, sending him tumbling across the rocky landscape. He then shot at Ichigo, who barely managed to block the downward swing of the Raika Goen Kaku. He held it for several second before it began to loudly trumpet, expelling smoke form the back of it, before exploding into violent flames.

Shimofuri then knocked Ichigo into the air and swung his sword, sending numerous, large blue streaks after the captain. Ichigo managed to dodge most of these, but took one right in the chest. He then managed to recover fast enough to shunpo right behind Shimofuri and swing his blade at him, backed-up with the power of a black Getsuga Tenshou.

But Shimofuri quickly spun around and blocked the attack with both sword and Raika Goen Kaku. He then let out an electrical current that canceled Ichigo's attack, before blasting him with a white Getsuga Tenshou.

"You're very stubborn, aren't you Kurosaki Ichigo?" Shimofuri asked, walking up to Ichigo. "If you want, I can spare your life, in exchange for her." He gestured over to Senna, who was trying in vain to escape from the cage he had trapped her in. "There is nothing to be ashamed of if you choose this. After all, nothing will be lost.

He then moved to the side as a large Getsuga Tenshou rocketed past him.

"Will you shut up with all that," Ichigo growled, standing back up. "I have had enough of your talk about how you're talking about Senna." He pointed his blade at Shimofuri. "You keep talking about how she's nothing, and that she doesn't exist. I've already had this same argument with the last guy who tried to take her away, Ganryuu, and just like him, I'll beat you down."

Shimofuri only shook his head. "If that is your wish, then I have no right to take it away from you." Gray reiatsu began to build around him, while black reiatsu began to gather around Ichigo.

The two charged at each other, and swung their blades. Ichigo was knocked high into the air, and was followed by Shimofuri, who fired a Gran Rey Cero at him, but Ichigo quickly flew out of the way and swung his blade down, only to be countered by the Raika Goen Kaku.

Shimofuri then blasted Ichigo with a blast of wind and then launched a small nova at him, and with the wind flowing around Ichigo, it was greatly powered up. And for good measure, he threw in some lightning as well. For good measure.

Ichigo then fell from the plume of fire, but was quickly stabbed from the back by Shimofuri's sword. The man then grabbed Ichigo by the left arm, and much to the terror of Senna, who could only watch helplessly, tore the arm off at the shoulder.

Ichigo screamed in pain as Shimofuri dropped his arm and pulled his sword back, and was blasted to the ground by another Gran Ray Cero.

"You see how futile it is?" Shimofuri asked, landing gracefully on the ground. "All your efforts are for naught." In-between his horns, a colorful cero began to form, while Ichigo struggled to stand up. "Farewell, Kurosaki Ichigo."

He fired the cero at Ichigo.

"ICHIGO!" Senna cried.

Ichigo tried to move, but his injures were too much to bare.

And all he could do was watch as a copy of his own ability was fired against him.

"_Bankai."_

Something suddenly flew to the front of Ichigo, acting as a shield against the cero_, _causing it to explode upon impact.

"What the-" Ichigo said as several small pink objects fluttered around him.

"Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Both Ichigo and Senna turned around to see the cloud of pink petals part to allow Squad Six Captain, Kuchiki Byakuya onto the battlefield.

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Mrfipp


	33. Battle Atop the Hill

Fipp: Fifty bucks to whoever can correctly guess who it is that stabbed Coyote Starrk. I think Urahara.

Autumn Arc: Battle Atop the Hill

"Byakuya," Ichigo said in disbelief at the noble's appearance. "What are you doing here?"

Byakuya walked forward, scarf blowing in the wind. He stopped in his tracks and turned his sights towards Shimofuri.

"Is this man the cause of the destruction that is currently going on in Soul Society?" he stoically asked.

"I am," Shimofuri said. "I have come here to end the life that women." He pointed towards Senna, in the spike-cage, with his sword.

"Is that so?" Byakuya said. He then reached out his hand and the petals of his Bankai gathered in his palm to form a sword. "I cannot allow that."

"HA! I knew you liked me!" Senna grinned from her cage. "I just knew if I tried hard enough to I could get you to open up!"

"I am here to defeat the threat to Soul Society," said Byakuya.

"You didn't say 'No' though!" Senna sang.

"I will ignore you now."

Senna now sat in the corner of her cell, drawing circles in the dirt with her finger. "You're mean Byakuya-taichou."

Byakuya took several more steps forward before stopping, and turned to Ichigo.

"What?" Ichigo asked. "Do I have something on my face?"

"You're missing an arm." Byakuya turned away. "Pitiful."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY?!" Ichigo yelled. "I'LL TELL YOU THAT HURT LIKE A BITCH!!!"

"Aren't you going to fix that injury? If you are going to continue fighting in your current condition, then you will be inadvertently killed by me."

Ichigo growled. "I was going to! But this bastard over here," he pointed at Shimofuri with his one arm, "never gave me a chance!"

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Shimofuri asked, not really interested, but asked nonetheless out of courtesy.

"Shut up you," Ichigo snapped, stabbing his sword into the ground. He the placed his hand over his face, darkness began to form under his hand, and when he pulled it away the darkness vanished, leaving a red-and-white mask on Ichigo's face, his eyes now black and yellow.

Both Shimofuri raised and Senna eyebrow at the mask's appearance, but this became less important when a large amount of white liquid erupted from the armless shoulder. Similar liquid began to leak out of the other wounds of his body.

The liquid out of the shoulder then began to take a shape, forming into a clawed arm with red markings running down it. It, as well as the rest of the liquid pouring from his other wounds, then hardened, before shattering into many pieces, taking all his wounds with them.

Shimofuri and Senna were surprised that when the 'arm' shattered, it revealed a new fully human arm.

"Dammit," Ichigo groaned, his voice resonating, flexing the new arm. "I hate it when this happens. My arm always feels so stiff when I do it."

"Then don't loose your arm," Byakuya said calmly.

"Shut up!"

"What did you just do?" Shimofuri asked. "That white liquid."

Ichigo sighed before pushing the mask up his head. "This is my Hollow mask," he said, his voice no longer echoing, though his eyes remained the same. "It allows me access to my Inner Hollow's abilities, and one of them is instant regeneration. This means that any wound I get, I can heal it. Though, there's a limit to how much I can use that particular ability in one day.

"When you hit me earlier with that Cero Oscuras, you almost killed me. I used the mask right after I was blasted to heal most of wounds, but it shattered when I was hit the ground. It needed some time to 'recharge' it before I could use it again.

"Unfortunately, I'm at my limit with that power." He then drew the mask down.

"Is that so?" Shimofuri asked, following it with a heavy sigh. "Just great. Very well, bring it then."

The three stood there for several moments before both Ichigo and Byakuya vanished from Shimofuri's sight.

And reappeared behind the man and swung their swords.

Dust and earth exploded, but Shimofuri jumped out of the cloud and quickly blocked the attack from Byakuya, before blowing his away with a just of wind. Ichigo then appeared above him and swung down, Shimofuri blocked this with Raika Goen Kaku and was thrown to the ground.

Both shinigami then appeared at his side, but Shimofuri unleashed a blast of lightning, having it act as a shield to protect him from the attack. He then stabbed Raika Goen Kaku into the ground, causing dozens of searing-hot beams to shoot from the ground, having Ichigo and Byakuya jump back to avoid the flames.

'_This is getting really troublesome,' _Shimofuri thought. _'I have to end this now.' _He then flew high into the air and swung his blade, sending several large blue streaks down.

Not at Ichigo and Byakuya, but at Senna.

"Senkei." Thousands of glowing pinks swords appeared around them in a column-like fashion, leaving Senna outside, protecting her from the blast.

Byakuya then appeared in front of Shimofuri, a sword in each hand and swung at him. They continued to trade blows with each other, even when Shimofuri managed to shatter one of Byakuya's swords, another would appear and take its place.

The silver-haired man then quickly spun around and planted his elbow in his stomach, and launched a missile from his elbow at him, sending him crashing to the ground in a large explosion.

He was about to fire another cero from his horns down at the captain, but Ichigo appeared in front of him and swung at him, unleashing a large Getsuga Tenshou at him, cancelling the cero. Shimofuri managed to block this, but Ichigo quickly shunpoed behind him and unleashed another attack, while Shimofuri used the same attack, causing both Getsuga Tenshous to violently explode.

Ichigo was then blasted from the back with a combination of electricity and fire, sending him crashing to the ground, leaving Shimofuri in the sky.

Suddenly from the smoke of Ichigo's fall, two large, snake-like white creatures flew at him. Shimofuri barely had any time to react to this at they latched onto him, sinking their teeth deep into his flesh.

The smoke cleared, and Shimofuri could see the white creatures were coming out of Ichigo's back.

"Gokei." The cage around then collapsed, reforming as a sphere around Shimofuri. He tried to run away, but the snake-like appendages stopped his movements.

Byakuya closed his fist, sending the second stage of his Bankai to crush Shimofuri, which it did.

The sphere then exploded as a powerful streak of light shot through it, sending the petals flying into the air. Shimofuri flew this hole and, with his sword sheathed, he threw down several spears of light, all aimed at Ichigo and Byakuya.

The two captains then quickly shunpoed as fast as the could as the lances wrecked havoc on the landscape. Ichigo then took to the air and pointed his hand out at him and launched a large red cero at Shimofuri.

The man quickly raised Raika Goen Kaku and blocked it, but Byakuya quickly appeared behind him.

"Shukei Hakuteiken." Large glowing wings and a halo then appeared behind Byakuya's back and he swung at Shimofuri's unprotected back, creating a massive explosion of light and a large gash to appear on his back. He screamed in pain at this, causing him to drop his guard and was blasted by the cero.

When the smoke faded, he quickly wrapped himself in his wings as Ichigo and Byakuya flew at him, swords ready to kill, when the wings then opened up and Ichigo found himself attacked by a violet-purple cero, while a lance was thrown at Byakuya.

Both attacks were fired at point-blank range, creating massive explosions upon impact.

Both of the began to from the sky; haoris torn, bodies broken, Byakuya's hairpiece and scarf shattered and torn, while Ichigo's mask was mostly blown away.

Both crashed to the ground.

"Ichigo. Byakuya-taichou." Senna could only stared wide-eyed at their falls. She leaned on the spears, only for them to brake under her weight, she almost fell to the ground, but managed to catch herself before then. "They must have broken under the pressure of the reiatsu they were pushing out."

Senna was about move, to possibly get help, but a massive amount of reiatsu pushed down on her, forcing her down to her hands and knees.

"Now, looks like this all will end now," said Shimofuri, drawing his sword as he approached Senna.

Senna tried to draw he sword, but her hand could barely be lifted from the ground.

"Now die," Shimofuri said, raising the blade above him.

There were then two massive spikes of reiatsu behind him.

Shimofuri turned around to see two pillars of black and white reiatsu shine from where Ichigo and Byakuya fell.

"It seems that this is not over." Shimofuri began to walk towards them, his own gray reiatsu pouring off of him.

He saw that both captains were standing up now.

Byakuya's Shukei Hakuteiken was now shifting, moving from his back and wrapping around his neck, and moving up his head, taking the place of his hairpiece and scarf, while the rest moved into his hand, forming a pure-white, glowing sword shaped just like his own sword.

Ichigo's mask exploded into darkness, taking a new shape, and when it cleared, his mask was now that of the Hollow mask that Shimofuri had copied; his Hollow's second form. His blade began to glow red while darkness swirled around it.

"Outaikei." (1)

"Kurorei." (2)

Both captains charged at Shimofuri, and he too charged at them.

When they met, there were bright flashed of black, white, and gray reiatsu colliding against each other.

(1) Lone Sight.

(2) Black Zero.

Please review

Mrfipp


	34. One in the Same

Fipp: I found something very funny the other day called Smosh. Go check it out.

Autumn Arc: One in the Same

The lights that the reiatsu created from the collision of the three powerful attacks faded away, leaving only silence throughout the Sereitei.

In the distance, the dark sky began to lighten up as rays of the sun began to peak over the horizon.

Upon the Soukuyou Hill, Ichigo, Byakuya, and Shimofuri each stood with their backs to each other.

Shimofuri coughed up blood and fell forward and onto the ground, the additions to his body made from the absorption of Ichigo's memories fading away, leaving only himself; beaten, bloodied and broken.

Both shinigami captains turned around to the downed man. Byakuya dismissed the final form of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, reverting the white scarf, hairpiece and blade back to its sealed state, while Ichigo's horned Hollow mask shattered, and blew away into darkness, yet Tensa Zengetsu remained.

"It would appear that this battle is over," Byakuya said, sheathing his blade.

"It does," Ichigo replied. He looked over to where Shimofuri was, and his eyes widened at the sight of what he saw.

Shimofuri struggled to get up, managing to only do so when he used his sword to help him up. He then began to weakly make his way toward the two of them, weakly holding the sword up in a weak attempt to continue the fight.

"Goddammit," Ichigo hissed through grit teeth, gripping his sword tightly in his hand. "Why is he still coming?!" He then stormed towards Shimofuri, who weakly raised his sword and swung at Ichigo, but the captain deflected the blade, knocking it out of Shimofuri's hand. Ichigo then reared his fist back, before throwing a punch into the man that sent him flying back several meters. "Why are you still doing this?!" Ichigo yelled. "Why are you after Senna?!"

"Because," Shimofuri grunted, rolling onto his front. "She, has to end."

Ichigo felt the anger boil up in him. "Why? Why do you have to kill Senna?!" Byakuya had now walked up to them. "You've never met her before recently! So why do you want her dead?!"

"Because." It was not Shimofuri who had answered, much to the surprise of Ichigo and Byakuya. "Because we're the same."

The two captains turned around to see the last person on the hill walking up to them.

"Senna," Ichigo said, shocked at what she said. Why was she siding with this man?

"What do you mean 'we're the same'?" Byakuya asked, just as confused as his fellow captain.

"Because it's true," Senna said, walking between Ichigo and Byakuya, walking right towards Shimofuri, then stopping several feet from him.

"But, what does that mean?" Ichigo asked.

"It means that we are the same thing," Shimofuri said, somehow managing to stand up, even though it felt like his body was about to give up at any moment. "We are both composed of the memories of the lost and forgotten, those who have slipped from the cycle of reincarnation and into a world of nothingness. We share the same name. We are Shinjuku."

"Sh-Shinjuku?!" Ichigo took a step back in surprise. "But, but how? I though Senna was the only one?!"

"Fool," Shimofuri laughed. "There is more than one, there have been more. There have been dozens throughout the centuries!"

"What?"

"And we are not the only ones who were here today. Aoi. Aka. Midoriiro. Kasshoku. They are Shinjuku as well."

"But if you are all the same type of entity, then why seek her death?" Byakuya asked.

"Because, it's not fair," Shimofuri lowered his head. "When a Shinjuku dies, their memories will eventually be erased from everyone that they met, making it seem as though they never existed, severing all bonds they may have made in their short existences, and that is where they end. But, but you," he looked up towards Senna, hate filling up his eyes. "You were given a second chance! A chance that none of us were supposed to have!"

"But, you came back," Ichigo said, saddened by Shimofuri's reason.

"Yes, we came back, but only out of the rage we felt towards her for coming back when none of us could. We knew that we are not supposed to exist, so that is why we came to destroy her! Tell me," he said to Senna, "why do you feel you are entitled to another chance! Why do you think you are better then the rest of us?!"

Senna was silent for several seconds.

"I don't," she said, looking down at Shimofuri with sad eyes. "I never said I thought I was better then anyone else. I don't think I'm entitled to anything, though, I'm grateful I was given a second chance to live."

"What?" Shimofuri said, utterly baffled by her answer. He recalled earlier that he had told her all of this before, but before she could respond, that orange-haired man interrupted, came into the picture, stopping her from answering. Was this what she was going to answer then?

"It hurts, doesn't it?" She gripped her hand over her chest. "To find out that everyone you cared about had no memory of you. That they go about with their lives without even the slightest feeling that you were there." Ichigo looked down to the ground in guilt. "You must have felt that way, when you learned that your loved ones forgot about you, and the others were forgotten by theirs, am I right?"

Shimofuri looked down to the ground. "Yes, they were, we've all felt that way. Their memories are fading from me as well, I am having a difficult time recalling them. All I remember is there names, every other detail is hazy, at best. I can feel myself dieing, so no one will remember before the next night comes." He collapsed to his knees.

His body then began to glow silver and started to slowly dissolve into spirit particles that slowly floated away into the air.

"It doesn't have to be that way," Senna said, kneeling down next to Shimofuri.

Ichigo moved forward to stop her, incase Shimofuri tried one last attempt to take her life, but Byakuya placed his arm in front of Ichigo. The orange-haired man was going to retort, but the stare Byakuya gave him was enough to keep him silent.

"What do you mean?"

"Memory control, right? Maybe I can do something to make sure that everyone can still remember you guys."

Shimofuri's look softened a bit, before looking down to the ground. "And why would you do that?" he said in a less bitter tone then before. "To remind the whole world on what terrible people we were? On how we were willing to kill innocent people to simply kill you?"

Senna shook his head. "No, not like that. But, I think being hated, and remembered, rather than to be totally forgotten by everyone is better. That's something we can both agree on."

Shimofuri was silent for several moments before he responded. "I remember them. Thank you."

The sun rose over the horizon, bringing the new day as Shimofuri completely dissolved into particles.

Please review

Mrfipp


	35. Memories of Somebody

Fipp: I believe in the saying that you're never really ever gone, just so long as there are people to remember you.

Autumn Arc: Memories of Somebody

The air was chilly today.

This was to be expected due to the fact it was the start of winter.

Ichigo sat down on one of the bridges that were near his division and swung his legs over the edge so they were now hanging in mid air.

He looked around the city, pleased to see that the destruction caused by the other Shinjuku when they invaded was now almost fully repaired.

Ichigo wasn't really sure how Senna did it, but he, as well as the rest of the Sereitei remembered them.

Inoue and Komamura remembered how much Aoi wanted to fight.

Mayuri remembered how quick he gained, and lost, interest in Aka.

Kenpachi remembered how much fun Midoriiro was to fight.

Rukia remembered how much Kasshoku tested her Bankai.

Ichigo and Byakuya remembered Shimofuri's reasons.

Ichigo sighed and learned forward, pressing his forehead against the wooden railing.

"HELLOOO ICHIGOOO!" yelled a voice, scaring Ichigo into falling backwards. "Hey, that rhymes!"

Ichigo opened his eyes and saw Senna kneeling down next to him. Poking him in the ribs.

"Stop that," Ichigo sourly said before getting up. "What the hell are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh, nothing really," Senna said, walking around Ichigo, making sure her left arm was fully visible. "I really don't have much to do in _this_ division, guess I'm just passing through."

"You're real subtle," Ichigo flatly said, pointing to the badge wrapped around her arm.

"Ah! So you noticed then huh!" Senna beamed, patting the badge. "Surprising, huh?"

"Not really, they tell you in advance by a month before you're officially promoted to vice-captain, and you've been bragging about it ever since."

"Oh, yeah. Forgot about that."

Ichigo sighed. "Shouldn't you get going? Byakuya's a real stickler for punctuality."

"Don't worry, even if I'm late I got this!" Senna reached inside her sleeves and pulled out a cluster of yellow fruits.

"Bananas?" Ichigo asked in confusion.

"What? Rukia said Byakuya-taichou liked bananas. I got them as a sort of 'thank-you for letting me your vice-captain', or something." Senna placed the bananas back into her sleeve. "Well, as much fun as I had with Team Fruit Salad(1), I have to get going to my Division!"

"Dammit," Ichigo growled. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call my Squad that?"

"Bye!" Senna was already halfway down the bridge.

Ichigo groaned in annoyance. "Whatever." He turned around to leave. "See ya Senna."

"Ha! That's Aki Senna-rokubantai(2) fukutaichou!" she sang, before jumping away.

Ichigo stopped in his tracks and turned around, just in time to see Senna's red sash vanish behind a corner and allowed himself a smile before continuing down his way.

He was glad for Senna. She had found her place in this this world, as well as a name all her own.

The remaining leaves of the autumn blew in the wind.

000

Kuchiki Byakuya entered his office earlier then he normally would to make sure everything was clean and in order for the arrival of Aki. It was, after all, his duty as a captain to make sure his new vice-captain became familiar with this squad.

"Hello Byakuya-taichou!" Senna said happily behind Byakuya, catching him by surprise, but he managed to make sure it didn't show on his face.

"It would seem that you have arrived earlier then I would expect you to, Aki-fukutaichou," he turned to the young woman, only to see she wasn't there. He looked around the office to see she was already at her desk.

"Is this mine? I like the woodwork. Top quality. Ooh!" She turned back to Byakuya and reached into her sleeve. "I brought you bananas!"

Byakuya only stared at her before turning to leave the office. "Come, I must now inform you of your duties as my vice-captain."

"Fine," Senna responded, disappointed that Byakuya didn't like the bananas.

"Leave the fruit on my desk though, it may prove to be a distraction should you bring them along."

Senna blinked before she understood. "Yes sir!" She dropped the bananas on his desk before chasing after him as he walked further into the division.

"Before we begin, do you have any question?"

"No. Oh, wait! How many of those scarves do you have? Because I thought yours was ruined in that last fight. Don't they also cost a lot of money? Must be expensive to have a lot of spares."

"I meant any related to the division."

"No, not really."

"Good."

". . ."

". . ."

"Still curious about the scarves though."

Byakuya knew things would certainly become interesting from now on.

(1) A pun on Ichigo and Hinamori's given names. 'Ichigo' means 'strawberry' and 'Momo' means 'peach'. And to a further extent, Hinamori's zanpaktou, Tobiume means 'Flying _Plum _Tree'.

(2) Sixth Squad.

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Mrfipp


	36. Mastery of Skills

Fipp: Guess what everyone! The _Fade to Black _movie can now be found on YouTube! I watched it yesterday, and it was awesome, though, it gave me the same kind of sadness that I felt when I saw the first movie, and 358/2 Days.

Also, this extra makes a reference to my one-shot _Shikai, _and there's some foreshadowing for the future.

Drabble: Mastery of Skills

In order to master one's skills, one must work hard and long to grasp what they are fully capable of.

The captains and vice-captains of the Gotei 13 are the most powerful people in the Soul Society.

Despite this, there are various times in their training that they would prefer to forget.

When Hitsugaya learned the Shikai for Hyorinmaru, he was able to quickly grasp the power of its ice dragons, yet found himself constantly tripping himself over the chain that came out of the hilt. He even managed to choke himself once.

On the first real use of his Bankai, Daiguren Hyorinmaru, he was unaware of the ice-petal limits. He learned the hard-way when he was about to finish off a powerful Hollow, then his Bankai suddenly shattered, leaving him very exposed to a painful counter-attack.

Sasakibe's Gonryomaru, when swung in the incorrect manner, had a tendency to spring back, stabbing him in the head. Getting electrocuted didn't help this.

Soifon's Shikai, Suzumebachi, was so light that she often forgot she had it on. This made her curse herself when she accidentally stabbed herself when she folded her arms, or placed her hands on her hips.

When she first shot a rocket from her Bankai, Jakuho Raikoben, she destroyed a mountain one mile away, and ended up crashing into a building two miles away.

Omaeda could not recount the amount of times he ended up in the Fourth because he had difficulty of controlling where Gegetsuburi went when he threw it.

Kira learned his Shikai around the same time Hinamori and Renji. Renji had joked that Wabisuke was supposed to kill giant fish-like Hollows. Kira then smacked him with the flat side of the blade, accidentally doubling his weight, sending Renji to the ground. They all panicked at this and he accidentally crashed it into a very large tree, and caused many heavy leaves crashing down on them.

When he learned Bankai, a good number of his squad members who got caught in it, were sent the Fourth on a twenty-four hour suicide watch.

Ishida was always an expert with his bows. His main problem was the Seele Schneider; since there were times he was close to self-castration.

When Nel became an arrancar, it took her some time to get used to walking on two legs, since her Hollow form had four. When she first used Gamuza, she was surprised to gain back an extra set of legs, and ended up tripping over her hooves, and crashed head-first into a wall.

Inoue's main troubles with the Shun Shun Rikka, was not the abilities, but the fairies themselves, who would often argue over the most trivial of things, like where the remote was, at the most incontinent moments. Inoue would spend a great amount of time acting as a mediator to them.

Pesche's weapon, Ultima, was several times mere _centimeters _from castrating him.

Dondochakka had accidentally chocked himself on his own weapon.

Ichigo once tried to make use Zangetsu as a fail in battle, like his Hollow did once, but only ended up missing the Hollow, and almost cutting Rukia in half. The welt was twice as large as his own head.

Ichigo had known his Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu, for only two hours before going to fight Byakuya. In this time, he had learned to better watch his feet when running, otherwise the enhanced speed of his Bankai would sending him tumbling forward in very painful ways.

Hinamori was unaware of the kido aspects of Tobiume, and in a sparring match against Kira and Renji, had inadvertently fired off a large fireball, causing panic, creating more fireballs. In the end, she had burned down a quarter of the forest.

Her Bankai was no different, though she managed to burn down the whole forest. In one hit too.

Byakuya was just a boy when he learned the Shikai of Senbonzakura. He hid the fact he knew it for five years because the color it took. Kyoraku, upon seeing it, clapped him on the back and said 'Real men wear pink'.

Before mastering the blades of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, when he tried to make a sword from it, he could often slice his hands up real bad. And for some reason, his hair would always ended up botched up.

Though Senna had latent memories of how to use Mirokumaru, there were numerous times she had stabbed her forehead and foot, and had blown away herself into the river with a rouge whirlwind.

When Komamura first summoned Tenken, he accidentally smashed the First Division meeting halls.

Because of the first time he used Kokujo Tengen Myo'o, it caused a scare throughout the Sereitei, and now he must call a captains meeting to let them know he will be training with it.

If Iba did not have a good enough grip on his Shikai, the momentum from the blade would often send it flying.

Renji was unaware that Zabimaru could separate into a whip-like weapon, as a result had almost decapitated both Kira and Hinamori, and managed to clear a portion of forest.

He was also not aware that Hihio Zabimaru could be reformed if broken, so when this happened in the short time he had to train before fighting Byakuya, he had tried duct tape to fix it. When he found out, he bashed his head on a rock in frustration.

Nanoa was too embarrassed to even think about her own mishaps with her Shikai.

While Hisagi did not like the shape of Kazeshini, he put large amounts of practice into training with it in order to gain some control over where the blades flew, so he wouldn't cut off any limbs, or choke himself on both chains.

He was very hesitant about learning Bankai. When he did learn it, he caused a three mile long gash across Soul Society's soil.

The second form of Sado's right arm, Brazo Derecha de Gigante, had a sort of 'jet' on the shoulder. It took him several times to learn how to control these jets so he didn't end up flying through several boulders. And Renji, who had the misfortune of being there at the time.

Matsumoto panicked when the blade of Haineko turned to ash, believing that she had broken it. She ran to one of her superior officers crying about it, not noticing that as she ran, the following ash was slicing everything up.

When she first summoned Nenshoufunka Haineko she ran again, but this time in fear because it looked very scary.

The tail Mosqueda gained when he released Draga often made it difficult for him to run, often causing him to trip.

When Yachiru could first call upon Yamaneko, she get so excited that she had a tendency to hurt other members of her division when she hugged them. Namely Ikkaku and Yumichika.

Ikkaku, like Renji, was unaware that Hozukimaru could spilt apart, thus explaining why he had almost split his skull open.

With Ryumon Hozukimaru, he would spend hours just arguing with the spirit to get up and fight, only to have his reiatsu deplete, thus shutting the Bankai off, when the spirit finally was willing to do so.

Yumichika's Shikai, Ruri'iro Kujaku often went straight for the nearest source of reiatsu to drain, and much to his dismay, that would be him.

Mayuri was so fascinated with Ashisogi Jizo that he did not take much notice to poison leaking out of the mouth.

The same could be say for the blades of Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo.

Nemu did not think about her own failures.

Grimmjow had been ecstatic about Pantera, he had spent several hours testing out the agilities and speed that he was granted. He was practicing a spinning move when he flew right _through _several buildings.

To Rukia's knowledge at the start, Sode no Shirayuki only had once dance, so she, as well as Kaien, who was in the way, were very surprised when she shot a massive wave of ice forward.

When using Tokomizore Shirayuki, the hood would often fall down her face, covering her eyes just as she was about to fire a powerful attack. On one of these occasions, Ichigo ended up in the Fourth for something Inoue referred to a 'Super-Mega-Cold'.

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Mrfipp


	37. Training Regiment

Fipp: Now for the start of the next, and final, arc of this story.

Squad Eleven Arc: Training Regiment

There was suddenly a loud explosion as sword clashed against each other, blood spilled, pained grunts rang through the air.

It was a typical day in the Squad Eleven Training Barracks.

Currently, this particular spar consisted of the vice-captain, third seat, and fifth seat, utilizing their Shikai.

Yachiru jumped back at as the sickle-liked blades of Fuji Kujaku sliced at the area where her stomach was. She then made a stab at Ikkaku, but was blocked by Hozukimaru.

Ikkaku then swung the spear, aiming for both Yumichika and Yachiru, the latter quickly ducked down while the former blocked it with his weapon.

Yachiru then ran forward a the two and stabbed Yamaneko forward. Both men quickly attacked at her, but Yachiru managed to block their attacks and stabbed forward, catching each weapon between her blades and twisting her wrist, fling the weapons out of their hands and flung them into the air, catching them both by surprise.

She then quickly caught both weapons and struck them on their heads with their respective weapons.

"Dammit," Ikkaku growled, rubbing his head in pain.

"I hope that I don't get an ugly bump from that," Yumichika said, also rubbing his head.

"Haha!" Yachiru laughed, dispelling her own Shikai, so she could spin Ikkaku's in her hand while resting Yumichika's on her shoulder. "You guys really aren't too much fun to fight any more, I keep beating you guys way too easily."

"WHAT?!" Ikkaku yelled, jumping up and pointing at Yachiru. "What'd you say?! I could take you out with both hands tied behind my back! Come on! I could-" He suddenly found Hozukimaru thrown at his head, knocking him down.

"I'm bored," Yachiru said flatly, handing Yumichika back his sword. "I'm going to get something to eat at the lunch hall, either of you coming?"

"I could go for something to eat," Yumichika said worryingly, looking at the reflection of his sword, trying to find a bump on his head. "What about Ikkaku?"

"Huh?" Yachiru looked down at the unconscious bald man. "Oh, no reason to disturb his nap. I'm sure he'll catch up later."

"Very well then," Yumichika said, following the young pink-haired woman.

Ikkaku groaned from his spot on the ground.

000

In the Twelfth Division, the various scientist that were manning the many computers that were lining the walls of the dark walls.

"Everything seems to be fine so far," Akon said, examining the screens that were displaying the security around Soul Society.

"Is it me, or does it seem that things have been quite for a while?" Hiyosu asked, pulling the crank on his head and shooting his eye backward. "Rin! How many times have I told you to not eat all the cookies?!"

"Sorry," Rin said.

Suddenly, the room erupted in loud sirens and red blaring lights.

"What's that?" Akon yelled.

Hiyosu quickly tapped away at the keyboards. "Looks like we have a problem."

000

Ichigo ran through the divisions in fear. He quickly turned a corner and propped himself against the hall.

"Dammit," he said through heavy breathes.

Suddenly, a part of the corner was blown away.

"Would you stop running!" yelled a voice from down the hall. "Seriously, what's there to be afraid of?"

"You're trying to kill me Grimmjow!" Ichigo yelled down the hall.

"I'm not trying to _kill _you," Grimmjow said with a grin. "I'm just trying to get you to agree to a simple sparring match between friend."

"You just fired a cero at me!"

"No I didn't. That was a bala. There's a difference," he simply replied. He then grinned again. "Want to know the difference?" A glowing red orb appeared in his hand. _"This _is a cero."

"W-what?" Ichigo squeaked. He backed up several steps before walking into a wall.

A wall made of cloth and muscle.

"Hey Ichigo." Ichigo felt the life drain out of him. He looked up and saw the grinning face of Zaraki Kenpachi.

Ichigo squeaked as he jumped away from the larger captain, landing between the two. "What the hell you two doing?! Two-on-one! That's not fair!"

"It's not two-on-one," Kenpachi said. "It's one-on-one-on-one!"

"Yeah. We jus needed someone to fill the gap!" Grimmjow said.

Both then drew their swords.

Ichigo panicked and looked around, seeing both exits blocked. Seeing only one option, he pulled his sword off his back.

And destroyed the wall, and fled right through it.

Both Kenpachi and Grimmjow looked through the hole in the wall, to see it leading to another hallway, and another hole that lead outside.

"Damn," Grimmjow frowned, sheathing his sword. "You know, sometime I think he doesn't really want to fight us."

"Yeah, you'd think that."

"What the hell is going on here?" Both Grimmjow and Kenpachi turned around to face Hitsugaya. "And why are you destroying my Division?"

"We didn't destroy this place," Grimmjow said. "It was Kurosaki. Seemed to be in a rush for some reason."

Hitsugaya growled in annoyance. "How many times do I, as well as Kurosaki-taichou, have to tell you that he has no interest engaging in any sort of battles."

"Tch, I'm out of here," Grimmjow said, stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking back down the hall.

"Better get going too," Kenpachi said as he too began to walk down the hall.

Hitsugaya was about to go back to his office, to fill out several reports regarding fixing the walls and docking Ichigo's, Grimmjow's and Kenpachi's paychecks for payment, when a Hell Butterfly flew through the hole in the wall. The Commander reached his hand out for the Butterfly and listened to its message.

"Zaraki-taichou!" Hitsugaya called, stopping the larger man in his tracks.

"What is it?" he said, turning back to the younger, but more powerful, captain.

"It would seem that the Bureau of Research and Development has detected several Gillian-class Hollows in the Dangai Precipice World."

"Really?" Kenpachi grinned.

"Yes. So it would appear that your next assignment is to bring a portion of your squad to go and kill them before they can enter the Sereitei."

"You got it!" Kenpachi then quickly rushed down the hallway.

000

"Ugh," Ikkaku groaned as he slid the doors to the Eleven Division Mess Hall. There, he spotted both Yumichika and Yachiru sitting at the table eating bento and sweets.

Yachiru turned her head and noticed Ikkaku at the door. "HI BALDY!" she happily waved.

"Why you-" Ikkaku hissed. "How many times to I have to tell you about that?!"

"I stopped keeping track after five-hundred and seventy-three," Yumichika said.

Ikkaku growled as he grabbed something from the food table and sat down next to Yumichika and Yachiru. He picked up his chopsticks and was about to begin his meal when the doors burst open.

"Alight you dirt bags!" Kenpachi yelled getting the attention all the dozen squad members eating lunch. "That white-haired kid just gave me an assignment to go kill some Hollows. You can come along with me if you want or not, but it doesn't make any sort of difference to me just so long as you don't get in my way." Kenpachi then turned around and made his way outside.

Not even a second passes before everyone in the room yelled in excitement and chased after their captain.

000

Five minutes later, Squad Eleven had now found themselves at the Senkaimon gate that lead to the Dangai Precipice World, as well as the Living World.

"Ah, Zaraki-taichou," one of the two gatekeepers said. "Hitsugaya-soutaichou told us that you and your squad have come to eliminate the Gillian, am I correct?"

"Yeah that's right, now go ahead and open the gate because I'm getting really impatient here," Kenpachi said. Yachiru, Ikkaku Yumichika and various other members of the squad stood behind him.

"Very well Zaraki-taichou." The gatekeeper turned around and with the help of the other gatekeeper, opened the door.

"Alright boys!" Kenpachi yelled, drawing his sword. "Let's go!" He then charged in head first followed by his fellow division members,

Please review

Mrfipp


	38. Hollows

Fipp: The other day, as a belated birthday gift, I received 'Final Fantasy: Dissidia', and so far I love the game, though I'm not too good with Cecil.

Squad Eleven Arc: Hollows

There was a loud rumble in the dark air as the large herd Gillian-class Menos Grande roamed through the Dangai Precipice World, heading to the Soul Society.

The Senkaimon appeared at the end of the dark valley, several hundred meters away from the massive Hollows. The first thing that appeared out of the gate where several Hell Butterflies, these were followed by a large yellow flash that streaked out of it and blazed right into the herd of Gillian, instantly cutting down a portion of them, all the while madly laughing. The rest of the Squad Eleven ran out of the gate and followed this laughing streak.

"Sometimes I wish Taichou would be courteous enough not to kill them all before we even step out of the gate," Yumichika said as the group ran into battle.

"Not Ken-chan's fault if you guys are too slow!" Yachiru laughed as she ran into the Gillian group.

"He left you behind too!" Ikkaku retorted, only to receive a quick flying-kick to the head, sending him to the ground, though he quickly jumped back up.

"Can we please get this started?" Yumichika asked. The other two nodded and the group began its assault on the Hollows.

One of the Gillians began to charge a cero, but Yumichika quickly ran up at it and sliced at its leg and severed its foot. With one foot, missing it tumbled forward, causing it to crash down on the ground.

Ikkaku then jumped onto the vanishing corpse of the fallen Hollow and launched himself at the next one, flying right through the Hollow Hole in its chest, slicing right through the monster's side as he flew right through the other side.

Yachiru quickly avoided the stomping feet of the Hollows, then she quickly jumped up and pulled herself up the large billowing cloak and right up onto the mask. She energetically waved to it before cleaving the mask right in half.

The number of Squad Eleven members fought with joy as they shred the large Hollows down fell down and onto the ground.

After an hour of fighting, all the Hollows in sight were now dead and purified.

"HAHA!" Ikkaku laughed, doing his 'Lucky Dance'.

"Yes, that was quiet enjoyable, wasn't it?" Yumichika said, flipping his hair.

"Yes it was!" Yachiru grinned. Her expression fell after several seconds as she began to look around the area. "Hey, where's Kenpachi?"

The Third and Fifth seat looked around the dark valley for their captain as well, only to see he wasn't there.

"He must have ran too far down the tunnel while looking for Hollows to fight," Ikkaku said. "He probably got lost again."

"Of course he did," Yachiru said, lowering her head. Kenpachi really was useless without her, wasn't he?

"Fukutaichou!" Yachiru turned around to see the lower seated members gathered around. "What do we do now?"

Yachiru gave this a moment's thought before waving them off. "You guys go back to the Barracks. I'm going to look for Kenpachi and make sure he didn't get too lost."

"We'll come too," Ikkaku said as he and Yumichika stepped up. "It can be dangerous in here if you wander all by yourself."

"Whatever," Yachiru shrugged.

The squad members went back through the Senkaimon and back to Soul Society, while Yachiru, Ikkaku and Yumichika ran down through the darkened tunnels in search for Kenpachi.

000

"Dammit," Akon sighed. "Looks like Zaraki-taichou became overzealous again and left his group. Again."

"Should we send someone to go retrieve him?" Rin asked, nibbling on a cookie. "Again?"

"I don't think so, looks like Kusajishi-fukutaichou, Madarame and Ayasegawa are chasing after him. As long as we have surveillance of them, everything should be fine."

It was then, that every computer screen in the room went white with static, cutting off all images of everything that was happening in the Dangai Precipice World.

"What the hell?" Hiyosu asked, quickly typing on the keyboard, trying to get the images back.

"What the hell's happening?!" Akon asked.

"We somehow lost all visuals from the Dangai!" Hiyosu yelled, scanning the screens. "I can't seem to get anything back! It's all gone!"

"So they're all alone out there then?" Akon asked. "Damn. We have to contact Hitsugaya-soutaichou and have him send a recovery team after them immediately."

"No!" Rin yelled, banging on his(1) hand on the computer station.

"What is it?"

"The Senkaimon! According to this, they're all offline!"

"What?!" Akon and Hiyosu yelled. "So there's no way can go to the Living World, nonetheless assist Squad Eleven?"

"Dammit," Akon growled. He then turned around to the rest of the scientist in the room. "Everyone! Get visuals back up! Get the Senkaimon back online! Contact Hitsugaya-soutaichou and inform him of the situation so that he can send an extraction team the moments we reopen the gates!"

The various people in the room began to scramble, doing their assignments.

Akon turned back to the computer and glared hard at it. He had the feeling something was wrong, and making Madarame more molars wouldn't fix it.

000

There were five Gillian left in the way.

Kenpachi laughed as he jumped forward and swung his sword, slicing one of them in half.

Another one quickly fired a cero down at him, but the captain only deflected it with his bare arm and sliced the Hollow into small pieces.

The other three also tried to attack them, but Kenpachi quickly cut them down with ease.

"Damn," he said, slinging his sword over his shoulder. "Done already? Is it me or are these things getting weaker by the day?" He poked his eye patch. "Maybe this thing needs another adjustment. What do you guys thing?"

. . .

"Guys?" Kenpachi turned around to face his squad, only to find not a single one around. "Where the hell did they all go?" He took a deep breath before yelling, "Yo! Yachiru! Ikkaku! Yumichika! Where'd ya go?!" When he received no answer he looked around a bit more. "Must have gotten lost."

The large man turned around back down the path the he come, but stopped in his tracks.

"Which way did I come from?" he asked himself.

The captain was silent for several seconds before he heard a ripping noise behind him.

He turned around to see the air ripping apart.

"A Garganta?" he asked himself, thinking back to the times he had seen Grimmjow use those things.

The inter-dimension portal opened up to reveal endless sands and a night sky.

"Is that Hueco Mundo?" he asked.

"Yup." The next thing Kenpachi knew, he was struck from the back and sent flying through the portal, and crashing into the sand.

With a growl he jumped from the white sand and stood up. "Who the hell did that?!" He looked around to see that his surroundings were of a large canyon with craggy, white rock walls that jut straight up. The entire ground was covered with fine, white sand while the ever-present moon hung in the sky in its reversed crescent shape.

"Hello there, shinigami." Kenpachi turned around to see two figures standing in front of the Garganta. Despite the fact they were both human in appearance, they both had holes in their chest and stomach.

For a brief moment, Kenpachi thought they were arrancars, but he noticed that neither one held a sword, and that their mask were not fragments that rested somewhere on their heads, like a helmet or eyepiece, but an entire opal plate that covered their whole face.

Though he didn't know too much about Hollows themselves, but he knew enough to know what these guys were.

He happily grinned at the mere thought of the up coming battle.

000

In the Twelfth, while many of the shinigami frantically tried to repair the computer systems, one computer in the back had a small tab on the screen in flashing red.

'_Danger! Danger! Danger! Two Vasto Lorde Hollows located in Sector A-13! Please extract all shinigami from-'_

The tab was clicked off by the person manning this computer, making sure no one heard it.

(1) Or is it 'her'? Damn ambiguous gender.

Please review

Mrfipp


	39. Pitch Black

Fipp: And now Kenpachi and Byakuya have returned!

Squad Eleven Arc: Pitch Black

Kenpachi gripped his sword tightly and examined the two hollows.

Their skin appeared to be segmented armor with black lines running down their chests. The larger of the two, which was bigger then himself wore a square mask with green triangle markings allover it, and a single slit for his eyes, while the smaller one, which was a foot shorter then him, wore a streamline with a sort of beak, while blue curls ran around the eye holes. Their hollow hole were on the left and right sides of the chest respectively.

"Now would you look at that," the larger hollow said with a grin. "Seems we've met another shinigami to kill."

"Yes it would so," the other hollow said, keeping his eyes on Kenpachi.

"So, you two want to fight then, huh?" Kenpachi asked.

"You bet!" the larger hollow cheered, raising his fist into the air. "Do you know how long it's been since we've met a shinigami to fight? Let alone a captain? God has it been long!"

"So you guys are starved for a real battle as well?" Kenpachi asked. "That's really good, because it's been a while since I've had a good fight myself, and I can tell that just by looking at you, I'm in for one hell of a battle."

The smaller hollow raised an eyebrow. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Kenpachi grinned. "It means that you look like a couple of Vasto Lordes, and from what I've heard you guys and the strongest of the strong."

"That is correct, the two of us are Vasto Lorde-class Hollows. We have each consumed more human souls and fellow hollows individually then you have met in your entire lifetime. The only things that have any chance of defeating us are other Vasto Lorde-class hollows who have managed to successfully evolve into perfect arrancars."

"You're powerful then huh? If you're so strong then how come you're not arrancars?"

"We have no desire to liken ourselves to you shinigami. Why would we seal our powers into a sword and weaken ourselves?"

"That bastard Aizen even had the balls to send some of his lackeys to try and convert us to help him!" laughed the larger of the two hollows. "What did they call themselves again?"

"They referred to themselves as 'Espada', who I believe were elite soldiers, each of whom served directly under Aizen himself."

"And look where that got them; they're all dead! If we'd joined up with that guy we'd be six feet under. You!" the larger hollow pointed to Kenpachi. "You're a captain, what'd you do fighting that guy?"

Kenpachi raised an eyebrow. "I killed the Quinto Espada, Nnoitra Jigura."

"See! If we'd had gone and joined up with Aizen's army, we'd have been kill too! Though, I almost went because that one Espada had a huge rack," he chuckled lecherously. He then turned to his smaller companion. "So, who goes at him first?"

"You can go first," the smaller hollow said. "Despite the fact you are a Vasto Lorde, you are still incompetent. He will most likely kill you in ten minutes."

"What the hell was that you little shit?!" the larger hollow growled down to the smaller one. When his partner didn't reply, just ignored him, he turned back to Kenpachi. "Now you, shinigami, let's get to killing you!"

"Now you're talking," Kenpachi grinned. "But before we start, I'll tell you who I am. I am Zaraki Kenpachi! I am the captain of Squad Eleven of the Gotei 13! Who are you two?"

The larger hollow chuckled. "My name is Rock Hammer." (1)

"Good. What about you?" Kenpachi gestured to the other hollow.

"I have no reason to tell you my name," the hollow replied. "Your death is apparent, so there is no need to tell you what."

Kenpachi narrowed his eyes. "Man, you really don't know the common courtesy of battle do you?"

"Forget him and fight me!" Rocker Hammer yelled, as he began to charge towards Kenpachi. The captain grinned and ran forward at him.

Kenpachi started things off by swinging his sword, but Rocker Hammer's arm quickly changed shape, becoming more cylindrical, and use it to block Kenpachi's strike. He then pushed back on the captain, sending him flying into the rocky walls. The hollow the opened his mouth and began to charge a cero.

Seeing this, Kenpachi quickly leapt out of the way, just as the massive green cero took out a large portion of the canyon wall. He then rushed at Rock Hammer again and stabbed at him, but the hollow blocked his attacked with his arm, then transformed his other arm into a cylindrical shape and pounded it into Kenpachi's shoulder, sending him to the ground. He was about to crushed the captain underneath his foot when Kenpachi rolled out of the way.

Kenpachi then quickly jumped back up and sliced at Rock Hammer, creating a large cut up his chest. Rock Hammer hissed in pain before kicking Kenpachi again. He then jumped forward, ready to crush Kenpachi, but the captain quickly blocked it with his blade with his arm and slammed his head into the captain's, then brought both of his arms down onto the man's shoulders, sending him to the ground.

He raised both of his arms to crush Kenpachi, when suddenly he was pushed back by a massive force of reiatsu.

"Wh-what the hell?" Rock Hammer asked.

Kenpachi chuckled as he stood up. "Man, you guys are something, the fight just started and already I feel overwhelmed. You guys are really making me go all out, aren't you?" Kenpachi looked up at the hollow, his eye patch off and golden reiatsu flowing off of him. "Now, let's get going!"

Both combatants laughed as they charged forward and swung their weapons at each other.

Rock Hammer grunted at the noticeable difference in power between this strike, and Kenpachi's last attack, nonetheless he poured all of his power into his attack and pushed Kenpachi back, then quickly struck him in the stomach and threw Kenpachi into a wall. He then ran forward to finish him off, but Kenpachi jumped from the wall and swung at him, this time cutting into the arm, then deflecting it to the side, before making another slice down his chest.

"Damn you're persistent," Rock Hammer cursed, jumping back to avoid another one of Kenpachi's strikes. "But you're still no match for me." He raised one of his arms. "Each one of my hits is equivalent to being hit my a train, I'm surprised you've managed to survive this long shinigami."

Kenpachi chuckled, but it was true, every time that he had been hit, he had been struck with an incredible amount of power. He wouldn't be too surprised it some of his organs were ruptured. It hurt like hell, but this was real fun.

Kenpachi then rushed forward again and sliced at Rock Hammer, but the hollow quickly blocked it and struck at Kenpachi, but the captain quickly dodged this and sliced at the hollow again, this time down the chest. Rock Hammer then jumped into the air and brought his arms together and crashed down to the ground, sending a massive shockwave through the area, sending most of the sand in the valley, as well as Kenpachi into the air. He quickly located Kenpachi amongst the flying sand and struck him in the stomach, only to be sliced down the shoulder.

The both fell to the ground, the sand crashing down on them.

Rock Hammer quickly jumped up from the sand, coughing, and looked around. "Where the hell did you go?!"

Suddenly the area of sand in front of him exploded as Kenpachi flew at Rock Hammer. His sword was raised, poised for the killing strike.

When something struck him from behind and sent him crashing into the wall. He looked down to see a number of cloth-like blades sticking out of his chest.

"What the hell?" Rock Hammer asked, looking at Kenpachi. He then turned around. "You bastard!" he yelled in anger. "This is my kill!"

"You were almost killed, you fool," the smaller hollow said. Kenpachi could see the cloth-blades that were impaled in his chest extended all the way to the smaller hollow's back. "If I had not intervened, you would have been killed easily. Since you failed in defeating him, I shall take over that duty."

"Heh," Kenpachi chuckled.

"Is there something the matter shinigami?" the smaller hollow asked.

"You say you're going to kill me, but you haven't even done me the honor of telling me your name."

The hollow stared at him. "My exactly do you want to know my name?"

"Because in battle a person should at least know the name of their opponent, so they can know who killed them."

The hollow sighed. "Very well, I will indulge you. My name is Visor." He was silent for a moment. "You may kill him if you want Rock Hammer, I find him too humorous to kill myself."

"With pleasure," Rock Hammer answered, walking up to the trapped captain.

'Why do you find me funny?" Kenpachi asked.

"Because that you said names are important. Do not believe us to be ignorant of the forces of the Gotei 13. You called yourself as Zaraki Kenpachi. We know you as the powerful demon-captain who thrives in bloodshed and destruction. He who is said to be born with a blade in their hand. Despite being one of the more powerful captains, it is said that you are incapable of using Bankai. You do not even know your own sword's name.

"How is it you can find one's name so important, yet you wield a nameless sword?" He pressed the cloth-blades deeper into Kenpachi, causing him to grunt. "You're pitiful."

Kenpachi looked up to see Rock Hammer closing in on him.

"Names are important," Kenpachi said to himself.

_He looked down at the small pink-haired toddler. "I'll name you 'Yachiru', after the only person I've ever respected."_

"Everything needs a name,"

_The orange-haired brat held up his sword, blue reiatsu pouring off of him. "The reason I hold this power is because Zangetsu and I fight as one!"_

"That's why I've tried hard to know,"

_The lanky Espada looked down at the cuts in his 'armor-like' skin in horror and confusion as the captain raised his chipped sword. "It's been a long time since I've had a workout this good. So to show you my appreciation, I'll let _him _thank you."_

As Rock Hammer approached Kenpachi, he didn't notice the small crackles of electricity.

"No one should be nameless,"

Rock Hammer raised his arms to crush Kenpachi.

Kenpachi grinned.

"Undo,"

Please review

Mrfipp

(1) These names aren't any lamer the canon names for Hollows.


	40. The Tenth Kenpachi

Fipp: From fighting two captains at once, the Fifth Espada, the Zero Espada, making sure his movie cameos are more than explosive (from slicing a guy in half, cutting down a castle and fighting a massive blob), Zaraki Kenpachi is the most destructive force in the Gotei 13.

When Kenpachi smiles, we all smile.

Except the guy he's cutting down.

That guy's not smiling.

Squad Eleven Arc: The Tenth Kenpachi

"Are we there yet?" Yachiru asked Yumichika and Ikkaku as the three of them ran through the dark valley.

"How the hell should I know?" Ikkaku said. "God knows how far Taichou had gotten in the time we were fighting those hollows!"

"He might not even be in this dimension anymore," Yumichika said. "The last time this happened, he ended up in London."

"He sliced one of those double-decker buses in half." Ikkaku could not help but grin. "Man that was fun."

Yachiru then suddenly slid to a stop, prompting Ikkaku and Yumichika to do the same.

"Fukutaichou?" Yumichika asked. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, what gives? We've got to get Taichou and get out of here," Ikkaku said.

Yachiru was still for several moments before she smiled. "Something tells me he's having lots of fun right now."

She then quickly ran past the other two shinigami, leaving them confused.

"What the hell is she talking about?" Ikkaku asked, scratching his head with the pommel of his sword.

Yumichika only shrugged. "How should I know."

After giving this several moments thought, they ran after the pink-haired woman.

"Are we even going the right way? Or are we just following her in random directions?"

000

Kenpachi grinned.

"Undo,"

Rocker Hammer brought his arm down to crush the captain.

"Fumetsuraikou," (1)

There was then a bright flash of light, blinding both Rock Hammer and Visor.

"What the hell is this?" Visor asked, shielding his eyes from the light until all became dark again.

He heard Rock Hammer scream, and he felt his blades severed from his body.

Visor quickly retracted the remains of his blades into his body and looked up to see Rock Hammer lying in the sand, almost his entire left side, save for most of the leg, sliced clean off of his body.

"Dammit!" he cried in pain as he struggled to stand back up. "Just what the hell was that?"

There was then laughter.

"Man, since I've learned its name, I've only used this form a couple of times, only against the really strong guys." Both hollows looked towards the captain to see he was not back on the ground, and that there was an intense blue aura of electricity flowing around him. "You guys should consider yourselves lucky to get me to use my zanpaktou already," Kenpachi laughed.

"Why you little shit!" Rock Hammer cursed, about to run up and crush Kenpachi, but Visor appeared in front of him. "Visor, what are you-?"

Blades then erupted out of Visor's back and crashed him into a far-off wall.

"So you're going to fight me now?" Kenpachi asked still grinning.

"That last blow you dealt to Rock Hammer by severing his left side will only serve has a hindrance," Visor said, shifting his stance so he could better prepare himself for anything Kenpachi would throw at him. "Now, Zaraki Kenpachi-taichou of Squad Eleven, come at me with everything you have. Do not restrain yourself, otherwise you will be killed without a moment's hesitation!"

If possible, Kenpachi's grin only widened at Visor's words. "Like I was going to do any of that stuff anyway!" he roared, throwing his sword above his head.

In an instant, dozens of blades shot from Visor's back and aimed at Kenpachi. They mere feet away from stabbing him when Kenpachi vanished in a flash of light, leaving the blades to only stab sand. Visor was baffled by Kenpachi's disappearance when a streak of lighting skidded across the sand, heading in his direction.

Visor quickly summoned more blades from his body and used them to block Kenpachi's blow but was thrown back and had stabbed several blades into the ground to root himself still. Had he not done blocked the attack even a moment earlier, he would have been sliced in half. More blades came from Visor's body and directed them at Kenpachi, but the shinigami quickly jumped back and swung his sword, deflecting a good number of them before landing back on the ground.

Kenpachi then launched himself at Visor, but as he was about to slice at him, a large number of more blades erupted from the sand below him and sent him into the air in a twister-like fashion. As he was thrown into the air, Kenpachi swung down at the blades, but they quickly separated from each other and surrounded him before stabbing at him.

There was then a massive burst of electricity and the blades were vaporized, leaving Kenpachi to freefall directly toward Visor, who quickly pointed his palm at him and began to charge a large blue cero. Kenpachi swung his sword down as the cero was fired, only to be blasted into the air, and fall to the ground.

He grunted as he stood up just as Visor fired another cero at him. Kenpachi quickly grabbed his sword in both hands and swung down, in an attempt to cut through the cero. This resulted in a massive explosion that while destroyed the cero, resulted in massive burns all over Kenpachi's body.

"Dammit," Kenpachi said through heavy breaths. "This guy's real tough."

"Of course we are!" The sand behind Kenpachi exploded as Rock Hammer appeared behind him and crashed him arm down on the shinigami and sent him flying forward, only for him to become impaled on Visor's blades before he was thrown into a wall.

"You're still conscious then?" Visor asked the larger hollow.

"You bastard!" Rock Hammer yelled. "How dare you do that to me!"

"You were injured. You would have only gotten in the way. But if you still wish to fight, then don't blame yourself when I cut you down when you get in my way."

"You," Rock Hammer hissed.

"Shut up and fire a cero."

Kenpachi pulled himself from the rubble just as the two ceros crashed down on him.

"Are you certain that this man is a captain?" Visor asked. "He hasn't managed to make a single scratch on me so far,"

"He almost cut me in half!"

"True, but you are weak." Visor began to walk away from Rock Hammer and toward Kenpachi. "Let's finish him now. I've grown bored."

"Whatever." Rock Hammer followed.

From his spot on the ground, Kenpachi looked weakly to the two approaching hollows.

'_Is this the power of Vasto Lorde-class hollows?' _he thought. _'There're something else entirely. A lost stronger then anything I've ever fought. I don't think I'm going to live through this.'_

To the surprise of both hollow, Kenpachi began to slowly chuckle as he stood up, before he threw his head back in roaring laughter.

"What the hell is he doing?" Rock Hammer asked.

"I think he went insane," Visor said.

"If this is going to be my last stand," Kenpachi laughed, "Then I'm going to take the both of you to hell with me!"

A massive wave of reiatsu poured off of Kenpachi, pushing the two hollows back several inches.

"What's with this guy?" Rock Hammer asked.

"He certainly is something else," Visor said, as their own reiatsu began to overflow around them in green and blue respectively.

"This is it," Kenpachi said as he gripped her sword in both hands, yellow reiatsu pouring everywhere while a massive skull of blue electricity formed behind him. "LET'S FINISH THIS FIGHT NOW!!!" he roared as he charged at the two hollows, who charged in return.

'_So, this is how it ends?' _he thought. _'Dying is going to suck, I just know it._

'_I've seen lots of people die, most of them by my own hands, but I never really thought what happens after. I wonder how they'll deal with it?_

'_Ikkaku?'_

"_My goal is to serve under you until I die under command!"_

'_Yumichika?'_

"_Time to finish this in a beautiful way then,"_

'_Yachiru?'_

"_Neh! Ken-chan!"_

Kenpachi tightened his sword to the point where his hand began to bleed against the rough cloth.

'_Heh, I'm sure they'll be fine. Think I've gotten all the fighting I can out of the Eleventh.'_

The three opponents clashed with each other.

Zaraki Kenpachi roared with laughter.

000

"What's that?" Yachiru asked, sliding to a stop, causing Ikkaku and Yumichika to do the same.

"It looks like a garganta," Ikkaku replied.

"You mean like what Nel and Grimmjow use?"

"It would appear so," Yumichika replied. "Maybe Taichou went in there."

"Then let's go find out!" Yachiru cheered, jumping into the portal, only to be exposed to a massive blast upon entering.

000

There was a swishing noise as the sword spun through the air before, spinning in a complete circle.

It kept spinning until it fell to the ground, impaling itself in the blood-soaked sand.

(1) Undying Lightning


	41. Fight to the Death

Fipp: So, in order for Ichigo to defeat Aizen, he can't see his Shikai.

Which means he can't see at all.

Which might be okay if he could sense someone's spiritual pressure.

But he can't.

Well, at least it's nice to see Kenpachi slice Yammi to bits.

Squad Eleven Arc: Fight to the Death

The light faded, and the rumbling became silent.

Ikkaku popped out of the sand and began to cough up the parts of the desert he swallowed. "What the hell,"

"This is horrible," Yumichika said, trying to get all the sand out of his hair. "It will take me days to clean!" He turned to the dazed and confused Yachiru. "Poor you, you have more hair then I do."

"Are we dead?" she asked, her eyes replaced with little spirals.

"Technically speaking, yes, but that is not important." Yumichika stood up and patted himself to get rid of the sand.

"What the hell was that light?" Ikkaku said as he jumped up and began to look around. "And where the hell is-?" His eyes widened. "No."

Yumichika raised an eyebrow in confusion and turned to where Ikkaku was looking, only to gasp in shock. "This can't be,"

"What's happening?" Yachiru asked in confusion. She then quickly shook her head to clear her head. "What're you guys staring at?" She then turned around, and immediately wished she hadn't.

000

"God-sonofa-dammit!" Rock Hammer cursed and falling to the ground. Nearly his whole body had been blown away in the last strike, and his mask now sporting a series of cracks.

"That was certainly more then I expected," said Visor, who was also greatly injured, but not as much as his partner.

"That bastard," the larger hollow growled as he looked up and across the field. "Looks like we managed to kill him." He stared at downed figure surrounded by blood-red sand.

"Yes, yes he is." Visor then quickly grabbed Rock Hammer by the neck, sinking his claws deep into his flesh and lifted up.

"What the hell?! What are you doing?!" Rock Hammer yelled.

"Sorry about this," Visor said with no hint of regret in his voice. "I'm hurt, and this is the best way to heal my injuries."

"What? Wait! No-!"

Visor then opened his mouth and bit into Rock Hammer neck, tearing out a large chuck of his flesh and spilling a torrent of blood. He then swallowed the flesh and threw the corpse behind his back.

The wounds that were all over his body then healed up, and within moments he was completely healed.

"There, all better," Visor said, cracking his neck to the side. "That was certainly an ordeal. If I hadn't had killed him, things certainly would have-"

He then quickly summoned one of the ribbon blades from his body and used it to block the attacks of two people.

"So _you _did _that?_" asked the one with feathers on his eyes said.

"Who are you?" Visor asked, effortlessly pushing the two newcomers back.

"We're just the guys you are going to _kill _you!" the bald one yelled. They both then jumped forward.

_000_

_Yachiru's eyes became wide at the sight._

"_No," Ikkaku whispered._

"_It can't be," Yumichika said._

_In front of them, only a dozen meters away, was Zaraki Kenpachi, slain._

"_But-but how did this happen?" _

_There was a heavy silence amongst the three._

"_That guy," Ikkaku growled, drawing his sword from its scabbard. "He did this!"_

"_That one in front of us," Yumichika said, also drawing his sword. "That ugly thing in front of us looks like a human, but its reiatsu is that of a hollow."_

_Both of them gripped their blades and dashed at the creature._

_Yachiru only stood there and stared. She then began to walk forward until she was at the body and dropped to her knees._

_She placed her hands on the body and wiped away the dust, sand and blood from the body so that she could get a better look at the face._

_It was true. _

_This was Ken-chan._

_And he was dead._

_She screamed._

000

Visor looked at the two newly appeared shinigami with bored eyes, as the looked at him with bloodthirsty eyes.

"Are you with that last shinigami?" he asked. "That captain that I just killed?"

"So you did kill him," Ikkaku hissed.

"Of course I did, and now you two will die."

"And what makes you think that?" Yumichika asked.

"It's so simple it doesn't require any thought," Visor said. "Since you two are not captains, and I was able to defeat a captain."

He vanished.

He reappeared between the two of them.

"I should kill you two easily." He the punched the two of them in the sides and sent them flying into opposing ends of the canyon.

Yumichika crashed painfully into the rock wall and bounced off, only to be punched to the ground by Visor who quickly appeared next to him. He then reached down and grabbed Yumichika by the throat and began to choke him.

"See?" Visor said, slowly increasing his grip on the shinigami's throat. "If he could not kill me, then you have no chance." Several ribbon blades grew out of his back. "Anything you want to say before I kill you?"

Yumichika struggled to speak, before he managed to say something. "Normally, I would reside to death, than do this in front of another member of my squad," he coughed, "but, I'm willing to make an acceptation since you killed my captain."

Visor raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Azure blue reiatsu then flashed around Yumichika, and his eyes glowed this color. "Spilt and Deviate, Ruri'iro Kujaku!" The blade of his zanpaktou then exploded into a number of colorful vine, forcing Visor to release him and jump back.

"So, that's your zanpaktou's Shikai form"" he asked.

"Yes, yes it," Yumichika coldly said. The peacock feather-like vines then rushed towards Visor and wrapped around him. "I see, so its capable of leeching my reiatsu from me. Impressive." He then reached his hand out and grabbed one of the vines and pumped a large amount of reiatsu into it.

"What are you doing?" Yumichika gasped. Why was this man intentionally giving reiatsu to his Shikai? Then to his surprise, the vines began to grow and expand.

"Anything that absorbs, can only can in so much."

The vines then exploded, sending Yumichika to the wall, knocking him unconscious.

"Fool," he said.

There was then a loud scream. He turned around to see the bald shinigami leaping into the air.

"You're going to get it now!" Ikkaku yelled as he drew his weapon. "Bankai!" He then exploded in red reiatsu.

Visor then brought out several ribbons to block the red mass, only to feel massive blades crash down on them.

The red glow vanished, revealing Ikkaku holding a massive three-section weapon. "Ryumon Hozukimaru!"

Visor pushed Ikkaku back, having the shinigami land on the sand. The dragon crest on the center blades was already half-way filled.

"So now it's your turn to fight me?"

"You bet! And when I get done with you, I'm-!"

Ikkaku stopped in mid-sentence as he felt stabbing pain in his back. He slowly turned his head around to see a dozen ribbon blades shooting from the ground behind, through his the blade of his Bankai, and right through him.

"Pitiful attempt," Visor said, bringing his blades out of the sand and drawing Ikkaku towards him. "But, it's to be expected." He then pointed his hand out, and blasted him with a massive, point-blank cero.

When the light faded, Visor released Ikkaku, causing Ikkaku to fall to the ground, his Bankai shattering into a million pieces.

Visor looked down at the down shinigami, before vanishing.

000

Yachiru cried near the body of Kenpachi.

How was this possible? He never lost a fight! Never! Sure, there was fight when Ichigo first stormed the Soul Society, but that ended in a tie! He could beat anyone!

He beat Tousen. He beat Maki. He beat Nnoitra. He helped beat Yammi. He beat Midoriiro.

But, he lost here.

What would she do now?

"Mourning for the loss of your captain?" Yachiru froze as the cold voice behind her. She barely had time to turn around before she was kicked and sent right into a wall.

Yachiru's head hit the stone, causing a large bleeding gap that pushed her to teetering between consciousness and unconsciousness.

"Such a waste of the Seireitei's finest," Visor said, pointing his hand to the vice-captain and began to charge a cero.

"Damn, it," Yachiru coughed, her vision going dark,

Visor fired the cero

At this point, Yachiru could see very little, but she was certain she was something green and white appear between her and the cero, and caught it.

"What the-" Visor gasped as the cero then grew smaller, before instantly firing back at him, creating a massive explosion upon impact.

"What," Yachiru asked.

"Damn it all!" Visor asked, walking out of the smoke created from the attack, clearly angered that his own cero had been fired back at him. "Just who the hell are you?!" he asked the figure between him and Yachiru. "Wait, I know you. The last time we met, you tried to convince me to become an Espada." Visor smirked. "It has been a while, Nelliel Tu Oderschvank."

The arrancar captain stood silent before Visor. She then turned her head to the side. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it in time Yachiru. The Senkaimon opened only a few minutes ago."

"Nel-chan," Yachiru said.

"I will try to finish this as fast as I can. Please hold on." Nel turned back to Visor. "You're powerful, aren't you? I can tell that you've grown Vasto Lorde since , just by standing here." She then drew her sword and held it horizontally in front of her. "I myself am a Adjuchas-class hollow, so fighting you with anything less then my full power would be suicide." She then raised her other hand and rested it against the tip of her sword. "Declare,"

The last thing Yachiru saw before everything went black was Nel entering her released form.

Please review

Mrfipp


	42. The Outcome

Fipp: I'm disappointed in Yammi; He's supposed to be the Cero! Yet he's getting his ass kicked! I mean, Nnoitra gave Kenpachi a harder time before he released! I really hope he pulls out some sort of trump card.

Squad Eleven Arc: The Outcome

"Goddammit," Ichigo said, holding Zangetsu as an umbrella. "Why do we have to have a meeting in weather like this?"

It had been raining like a flood for the last few hours.

"Are you sure you don't want me to make you a umbrella out of kido?" Hinamori asked, who had said shield above her head. "Kuchiki-san spent a lot of time working the bugs out in it."

"No thanks, I'm good," Ichigo mumbled. "You know what? I'm a captain! I don't need anything to protect him from the rain!" He placed his sword back on his back and walked forward in an attempt to walk proudly. Though this was hard with the rain beating down on him.

Hinamori sighed and shook her head. "Such a stubborn taichou."

000

"ACHOOO!" Ichigo sneezed.

"He went though the rain without any protection from the rain, didn't he?" Rukia asked.

"Yes," Hinamori replied.

"He's an idiot."

"Why were we even called into an emergency meeting anyway?" Grimmjow asked, cracking his neck to the side. "Didn't we just have one of these things yesterday?"

"I heard that something happened with the Senkaimon earlier today," Renji said. "Heard it broke, or something."

"Broke?" Komamura asked. "Kurotsuchi-taichou, is this true?"

"Yes it is," Mayuri said offhandedly. "The Senkaimon broke down earlier for some odd reason, though we were able to correct the problem, we're still unable to find out what had happened." The captain then growled. "It is a very infuriating task."

"Could that be the reason why this meeting was called?" Nanao asked.

Renji looked around. "Hey? Where's Squads Four, Eleven and Hitsugaya-soutaichou?"

"I don't know, they haven't shown up, where could they be?"

The doors then opened up and inside walked Nel, Inoue and Hitsugaya, each one with a solemn look on their faces.

"Finally," Iba mumbled under with breath.

"Now we have to wait for Zaraki-taichou and Kusajishi-fukutaichou to arrive," Byakuya said.

"That is actually what we are here to talk about today, Kuchiki-taichou," Hitsugaya said as he took his spot at the front of the room, while Nel and Inoue took their own spot between Omaeda and Byakuya.

"Squad Eleven?" Soifon asked. "What do they have to do with this?"

Hitsugaya was silent for a moment, making sure that everyone was focused on him, before taking a deep breath. "Early this morning, we received a warning that a large group of Menos Grande were spotted in the Dangai. In response, Squad Eleven was sent to eliminate them, a task they were able to do, but Zaraki-taichou became separated from the group, so Kusajishi-fukutaichou, Third Seat Madarame, and Fifth Seat Ayasegawa, went to go locate him.

"Shortly afterwards, the Senkaimon shut down for unknown reasons, thus cutting them off completely from Soul Society."

Heavy silence filled the room.

"Squad Twelve was ordered to work frantically on reopening the Senkaimon, while a platoon of members of my Squad were stationed outside it along with Oderschvank-taichou. When we were able to once again back online, we were able to give Oderschvank-taichou their positions, so she could effectively use a Garganta to get to them faster." Hitsugaya turned to Nel. "You may proceed from here."

"Hai," she said. "After I had been told where they were, I opened a Garganta and jumped through, but when I got there I found a Garganta opened in the middle of the path that led right into Hueco Mundo."

"Hueco Mundo?" Matsumoto asked. "Why was that open?"

Nel took a breath before continuing. "After I had gone though, I discovered each of the four members of Squad Eleven at the mercy of a Vasto Lorde."

There were several shocked expressions and gasps throughout the room.

"Vasto Lordes?" Grimmjow asked. "As in plural? Did you bump your head Nelliel? Because you and I both know that Vasto Lordes are rare enough, but to encounter more than one?"

"I know it may seem odd, but I discovered two of them, one of which was dead, I was able to kill the other one, though not without sustaining serious injuries myself.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. He hadn't really noticed before, but he could see Nel favoring her left leg, and he could see at the tip of her neckline what appeared to be bandages, which were probably wrapped around her whole upper-body.

"Wait," he said. "What about Kenpachi? And Yachiru, Ikkaku and Yumichika? What happened to them?"

Nel looked away slightly. "Both Ayasegawa and Kusajishi were gravely injured, but they should be expected to make a full recovery by the end of the month."

"What about Kenpachi and Ikkaku?" Ichigo asked again.

"Madarame's injures have forced him into a coma. When he will recover from it, is something that I cannot guess."

"What about Kenpachi?" Ichigo said through clenched teeth.

. . .

"Zaraki was killed by one of the Vasto Lorde before I got there," she said.

The room was filled with a heavy silence.

"What?" Ichigo asked.

"Zaraki-taichou of Squad Eleven was slain in combat," Hitsugaya said firmly.

"Like hell," Ichigo said.

"Zaraki wouldn't have died like that!" Renji yelled.

"He's too strong!" Iba yelled.

"Yeah! He almost kills Kurosaki everyday!"

"What was that Grimmjow?" Ichigo asked, stepping out of line.

"You heard me Kurosaki," Grimmjow said, stepping forward. "You know what? Now that I think about it, if you'd just suck it up and give him a fight, then he'd still be alive."

"Bastard," Ichigo growled, reaching up and grabbing Zangetsu's hilt.

Grimmjow scolded. "Bring it Kurosaki!" Grimmjow quickly grabbed Pantera.

This caused the whole room to quickly erupt into argument.

Ichigo and Grimmjow then jumped at each other, and the room filled with a bright yellow light.

The other captains and vice-captains stopped their fights as a heavy, cold feeling filled throughout the room, while in the middle of the room, both Ichigo and Grimmjow hung in the air, while spiked golden ropes wrapped around them.

"Silence at once," Hitsugaya voice at an edge to it as he lowered the arm that just cast the Bakudo spell on the two captains. "I will not tolerate any fighting in this room. As painful for some as it is, Zaraki-taichou is dead, Madarame is in a coma, and Kusajishi and Ayasegawa were gravely injured. You will all have your time to grieve, but we will be looking for a replacement for the position of Squad Eleven Captain. This meeting is over." He then snapped his fingers breaking the bindings on Ichigo and Grimmjow. Both grumbled and moved out of the room.

000

Komamura and Iba walked back to their division.

The captain couldn't help but look down at Iba. Though he personally had never liked Zaraki, he could sympathize with Iba. One would always feel some respect and honor towards their first captain. Despite the fact that Yamamoto had long ago retired, he would still feel the same way towards the old man, even though he now followed Hitsugaya.

"Tetsuzaemon," Komamura said, though it appeared that Iba was too lost in his own thoughts.

000

Renji sat back down at his desk.

"Is there anything else you need Abarai-taichou?" Nanao asked.

Renji didn't respond.

"Abarai-taichou!"

"Huh? What?" Renji said, snapping back to attention.

"I asked if there was anything you needed."

"What? Um, no, there's nothing I need."

"Very well," Nanao bowed and turned back to her desk.

It was full of paperwork, most of which was supposed to be filled out by Abarai-taichou.

Since he became her captain, she was relieved to know that he could fill out his own paperwork.

In light of recent events, she decided that maybe she should do it just this once.

000

Both Byakuya and Senna walked down the breezeway, trying to avoid getting wet, the normal enthusiasm that was with each of the latter's steps was absent.

"So Zaraki-taichou's dead, huh?" Senna asked sadly.

"That is correct," Byakuya said bluntly.

"How do you think Yachiru's going to take it?"

Byakuya stopped in his steps, causing Senna to stop before she bumped into his back.

He was silent for a moment before speaking. "Hopefully, for the sake of the Eleventh, that they do not grieve for long." He then continued down the path.

Senna didn't feel like picking at Byakuya for the vagueness in his comment.

000

Grimmjow stopped at the gates of the Thirteenth.

"Yo, Kuchiki," he said, getting his vice-captain to turn around. "I'm not much up for paperwork today, I'm sure you can handle it." He then vanished, not giving Rukia any time to protest.

She wouldn't have anyway, she was too busy worrying about how Ichigo was taking this.

000

Ichigo walked through the streets, ignoring the rain and it fell down on him.

His mother dying. Rukia being taken away. Now this.

He really hated the rain.

Please review

Mrfipp


	43. Aftereffects

Fipp: I have nothing clever to say.

Squad Eleven Arc: Aftereffects

Nel sighed as she looked through the papers. It had been a tough week, mostly for the Eleventh Division. Its morale utterly shattered with their captain dead, the third seat in a coma, the vice-captain and fifth seat still bedridden while the former was in a deep depression.

Nel hung the documents down by her side and began to walk down the halls.

000

"Hello Ayasegawa-kun," Inoue said to the bedded shinigami. She was hoping to cheer him up. "So, how are you feeling today?" She began to check the chart that hung off the foot of his bed.

Yumichika remained silent.

Inoue bit her lip. "So, are you experiencing any pain today."

Nothing.

Inoue began to become a little nervous. "Oh! Nemu-chan sent a message earlier. It said that your zanpaktou is fixed, so when you get out of here, you can pick it up."

Yumichika turned his head away. "That's right," he said quietly, "it shattered after that Hollow pumped too much reiatsu into it."

Inoue nodded. "How come you never told anyone that your zanpaktou was a kido-type?"

The fifth seat sighed. "I never wanted anyone to know. You know what kind of people are in the Eleventh, right?" Inoue nodded. "All our zanpaktous are weapons that require close quarter combat, and my zanpaktou isn't something that is made for the fights the Eleventh fight for. That is why I call Ruri'iro Kujaku, Fuji Kujaku. So that it'll still release, but not to its true form." He gave a humorless chuckle. "He hates it when I call him that." Yumichika closed his eyes. "Now that the true nature of my sword is known, Ikkaku and Yachiru will hate me."

"Why?" Inoue asked, confused.

"Didn't you just hear anything I just said?" Yumichika said, agitated at the vice-captain.

"But, haven't you been friends with Madarame-kun since before you became a shinigami?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"And haven't you know Yachiru-chan since she was a little girl?"

"I have,"

"If they're really your friends, then they won't care what kind of weapon you use. If they are as loyal to you as they have been to you, and they mean it, they'll stick close to you no matter what."

". . . You think so?"

Inoue smiled. "I know so."

000

"Oh, what are you doing here Momo?" Kira asked, seeing the Fifth's fukutaichou sitting on one of the porches in his division.

"Oh, hey Izuru," she said as Kira took a seat next to him. "Nothing really, just giving Kurosaki-san some space. He's taking Zaraki-taichou's death hard. He tries not to act it, but," She left it at that.

"A lot of people have," Kira responded. "Renji isn't doing to well either."

"I would have guessed that."

There was silence between them.

"Hey, Momo," Kira asked.

"Yeah?"

"Now that there is an open captain position, maybe you should consider applying for it."

Hinamori looked up to Kira with a questioning look. "Apply for it?"

"Yeah, you've known Bankai for a while now, and the only thing that's prevented you from becoming a captain was the fact that there were no open spots. You've told Renji and I that being a captain is something you've been wanting for a while." He nudged her. "I'd hurry up, otherwise Kuchiki-san might take it."

Hinamori sighed and rested her head on her knees. "I'm glad you have such confidence in my Izuru, but I don't think I could do it."

Kira raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"I don't think neither me, nor Kuchiki-san could become captains of the Eleventh. We're both kido experts, and my sword is a kido-sword. I'd don't think they'd listen to either of us anyhow." Hinamori then stood up and stretched her arms out. "I think the only person who could be a captain for them is someone who shares their spirit. That's neither of us."

Kira looked at her for several moments before turning forward. "Maybe you're right."

000

The rhythmic beeping could be heard throughout the room. Two beeps followed by a moments of silence, before two more beeps, repeating the simple cycle.

Ikkaku laid on the bed, heavily wrapped up in bandages with a oxygen mask on his face in a vegetative state. He had been like this since he was this since he was hit with Visor's cero, shattering his Bankai in the process.

Nel entered the room to check on his status. She stopped after entering the threshold.

"Yachiru," she said, causing the pink-haired woman to turn around. "What are you doing here? You should still be in bed."

Yachiru winced slightly, there was still pain in her bandaged head and ribs. "I, um, well," she tried to look for something to say. She took a deep breath when she thought of something to say. "I can't just sit in bed, so I had to go somewhere."

Nel raised an eyebrow. "So you came to see Ikkaku?"

Yachiru shook her head. "Not really, it's just I know that Ikkaku isn't in a position to blame me."

"Blame you?" Nel asked. "Blame you for what? You didn't do anything."

"That's right!" Yachiru yelled, startling Nel. "I didn't do I damn thing! And because of that everything went wrong!"

"Yachiru . . ."

Yachiru fell to her knees. "Because I didn't do anything, Ken-chan was killed, Ikkaku's in a coma, and Yumichika was badly hurt."

"I thought you people from the Eleventh always said that injuries and death were the price to pay for a good fight?" Nel knew this wouldn't help at all, but she had to try something.

"That's true, but that still doesn't make it easier when someone dies." She tightened her hands her hands. "I failed them entirely, I couldn't do anything, but let them down." She began to sob.

Yachiru lowered her head down. Nel could see small liquid drops hit the wooden floor. She could also see several crimson drops.

"Yachiru!" she called, quickly kneeling down next to the vice-captain.

"Wha-?" Yachiru looked up. Not only were the whites of her eye reds turning red, mixed in with the tears, but the bandage on the side of her head was also red and leaking. All this stress must have reopened the wound. Nel quickly placed her hand over the wound, using healing kido to seal it, at least for now. The glow at her hand then switched from green to blue, and Yachiru fell unconscious, and Yachiru quickly caught her before she fell to the ground.

"There," Nel said, carefully laying Yachiru on the ground. "This sedentary spell should keep you under for a while, but it's for the best." Nel then stood up and walked out of the room to call for a stretcher.

000

Mayuri walked down the halls of his division, Nemu close by his side.

He had not at all be affected by Kenpachi's demise. What did he care if that oaf had been slain in battle? Isn't that was all beasts like him wanted? At least no one would start arguments with him anymore periodically during the captains meetings.

"Kurotsuchi-taichou!" Mayuri turned around to see a random shinigami run up to him. When he was in front of them, he stopped to catch his breath. "Is it true what they're saying sir? That Zaraki-taichou is dead?"

"Yes he is," Mayuri said. "Zaraki-taichou was killed fighting Vasto Lordes."

The shinigami seemed shocked. "Vasto Lordes."

"Yes, such a shame that there was nothing left of them when those people from Squad Eleven were pulled out." Mayuri was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, but just who the hell are you?"

The shinigami sweat-dropped.

"Mayuri-sama," Nemu whispered into his ear. "That's our Third Seat."

"Is it so?" Mayuri said, not caring if his third knew he didn't know who he saw.

"Yes it is, you promoted him yourself."

"Interesting." Mayuri could name almost every single person in the Bureau of Research and Development, yet he could barely recall anyone inside Squad Twelve with the exception of Nemu.

"Uh, yes, Kurotsuchi-taichou, I'm your Third Seat," the shinigami said. "Nagasawa Emori."

Please review

Mrfipp


	44. Recovery

Fipp: I should have known that various pieces of fanfiction would be right.

And for the omake for the last episode; I think Inoue should either where the Goku costume, or the bunny suit.

Squad Eleven Arc: Recovery

Yachiru cracked her neck to the side. It was still sore after so many days in the Fourth. Yumichika had gotten out the same day she had, but Ikkaku still remained in a coma. They had both been offered to take some time off, but both had refused, believing that work would keep their minds off Kenpachi's death, and Ikkaku's comatose state.

"This place, it's become, quite depressing around here, hasn't it?" Yumichika asked, referring to the morale of the Eleventh Division.

"Of course they're depressed," Yachiru said, dragging her feet as the two of them walked down the breezeway. Then without giving him any warning, she vanished from sight.

Yumichika sighed sadly. "Yachiru."

000

Yachiru wasn't too sure exactly where she had shunpoed off to, but at least she was somewhere else.

She trudged down the breezeway of whatever division she had winded up at for several minutes before turning a corner. She bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" she said, stumbling back a foot. "I wasn't looking where I was-Oh, hey Bya-kun."

Byakuya stared at her for several moments before walking past her.

Yachiru was about to continue on her way when he stopped in his tracks.

"While grieving for the loss of a loved one is acceptable, one should be able to move on. If not for their own sake, then for their squad. It is the duty of a vice-captain to make sure their squad is held together in the absence of the captain. They cannot do this, if they themselves allow sorrow to overtake them."

"Byakuya," Yachiru said, turning around, but the captain had already continued his walk.

Yachiru was silent for several moments before continuing down her way.

000

Hitsugaya sat at his desk as Sasakibe gave him the report from Kurostuchi-taichou.

"This is interesting," Hitsugaya said, hands folded under his chin. "I thought it would be open for a few months, years maybe, but I'm truly surprised that someone has showed up this quickly." He pushed his chair out, stood up and made his way to the door. "Please send a message to Kurostuchi-taichou and Nagasawa to meet me in the meeting hall. I would like to meet this man personally before he attempts to take a Captain Proficiency test."

000

Various members of Squad Five charged forward at their captain.

Today's training regiment? Try and disarm Kurosaki-taichou using any means necessary. The handicap for Ichigo was that he was not allowed to use either his sword's own abilities, or shunpo, and only restricted to kido and kendo. They were currently practicing with wooden swords as opposed to their own zanpaktou.

This not only allowed the rookies to practice and hone their own skills, it gave Ichigo a chance to practice his loose kido skills in battle.

Three rookies attacked Ichigo from behind, but he quickly spun around and blocked all three strikes at once. He then thrust his free hand out at the three.

"Hado 1: Sho!" (1) he shouted, sending a burst of force towards them, sending the three rookies flying back. With them gone, he quickly spun around and attacked the on comers from behind.

Not too far away, Hinamori stood atop a hill, clipboard in one hand, and pen in another. She was carefully observing each cadet in the test, and determining if they were in any need of improvement, and if so, where it was needed. She was very grateful to see that this looked like a good batch of recruit shinigami.

She was originally supposed to assist Kurosaki-san in this exercise, but had insisted that he wanted to do this by himself. She understood, after all, he tended to feel better after hitting things.

There was then a beeping from coming from her, and she reached into her robes and pulled out her soul pager and looked at the screen. She then quickly took all the items she was holding, and placed them into her robes and cupped her free hands over her mouth.

"Okay everyone! Time's up!" she yelled loudly, halting all the test takers in place.

"Really?" Ichigo called back. "Thought there was still some time left."

Hinamori shook his head. "Nope. Sorry."

Ichigo sighed. "All right everyone! You heard her! Time to call it a day! We'll meet back here tomorrow morning at half-past dawn!"

They bowed "Hai Kurosaki-taichou! Hinamori-fukutaichou!" they said in unison. The cadets then began to scatters, separating into their own circles of friends as they began their trek back to the squad barracks. Some were complaining about injuries they had received, while some started to joke, and some of the males tried to flirt with the females, only to fail.

"So how were they Kurosaki-san?" Hinamori asked, walking up to Ichigo. She could see several minor bruises and cuts on him, especially around the hands and wrists, evidence of how hard the cadets tried to make him drop his sword.

"Good, could be better, but I think we got a good crop of rookies," Ichigo replied, slinging the wooden sword over his shoulder.

"That's good to hear," Hinamori said. "Now we have to get back, there are still some papers you neglected to sign."

Ichigo groaned. He hated doing paperwork after a good spar. He normally saved that stuff for a rainy day.

The captain and vice-captain of Squad Five began to walk back to their offices when Ichigo stopped in his tracks and began to looked behind him.

Hinamori also stopped walking and looked to Ichigo. "Kurosaki-san? Is something wrong?" The wooden sword was then carelessly tossed at her, catching her by surprise. She managed to catch it after fumbling several times.

"Sorry Hinamori, but I just remembered something. I promise I'll be back at the office when I'm done."

Hinamori bit her lip in annoyance, but complied nonetheless, knowing he'd keep his word. "Fine, just don't take too long."

"Don't worry, I won't." Ichigo then vanished by using shunpo.

000

Ichigo appeared out of this air and landed on the large tree branch of the tree not too far away from where he had just held the training match against his squad.

"You're getting good at hiding your reiatsu, Yachiru."

"Oh, hey Ichigo," replied, Yachiru, who was laying flat on the branch.

There was silence between the two of them for several moments.

"I know what it's like," Ichigo said, then leaned against a tree. "To loose a parent to a Hollow, when you were only a short distance away."

". . ." Yachiru remained silent.

"When I was a kid, my mother and I were on our way home, and a I spotted a girl on the bank of the river. I thought she was going to jump into the river, so I ran to save her, and my mother tried to stop me." Ichigo tightened his fist. It could be a centuries later but the memory would still cause his heart to ache.

"But it was a trick. The girl I saw was nothing more then a lure, so a Hollow called Grand Fisher could bring us in for the kill." He was silent for a moment. "He ate my mother. After that I spent most of the time after that blaming myself, and stewing in my own sorrow and self-pity.

"By, my family needed my for support. So I picked myself up, and from then on did everything I did to protect them."

"What about Grand Fisher?" Yachiru asked, speaking up for the first time. "Did you kill it?"

Ichigo shook his head. "No. I didn't, my father did though. I wanted to kill him though. I was so angry that he had killed my mother, right in front of me, and I couldn't kill him, only gravely wound him the one time we met. But, maybe that was for the best. Revenge is an ugly thing."

Ichigo thought of all the people he had met in his life who lusted after revenge. Ganryuu, who tried to use Senna to destroy Soul Society. Kariya sacrificing his allies for the same thing. Kusaka trying to fight Hitsugaya, and not caring what damage he had caused. Amagai willing to hurt so many innocent people just to kill Yamamoto.

What would he have done, who would have been willing to hurt, if he allowed revenge to consume him?

The two where they were for several moments before Yachiru stood up and used shunpo to leave. Seeing no reason to remain, Ichigo left.

000

Yachiru landed on the roofs of one of the squads and started to run.

She knew what she had to do, and she would do it. She just wished she had Ikkaku to help.

She looked down at the sword strapped to her waist and for the first time in weeks, smiled.

000

Ichigo slid the door to his office open and stepped in.

"See, told you I'd be back," he said out loud, hoping Hinamori would hear him.

"Oh! Kurosaki-san!" Hinamori said, popping in from behind a wall.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll start on the paper work."

"Actually, it's not that." Hinamori reached her hand out and gave a Hell Butterfly to Ichigo. "It's from Hitsugaya-kun."

(1) Since before becoming a captain, both Rukia and Hinamori have each taken it upon themselves to teach Ichigo kido. His current skill level when measured in accordance with other captains, Ichigo measures 40/100.

Please review

Mrfipp


	45. Moving Foward

Fipp: I like Tousen's mask; he looks like a spaceman!

Squad Eleven Arc: Moving Forward

Yumichika groaned as he turned over in his bed. He had trouble sleeping tonight, he has not seen Yachiru since she had left over twelve hours ago. He had tried to look for her, but he was unable to locate her.

He began to feel his eyes getting heavier, and finding it difficult to stay awake. He was very grateful he was finally about to fall asleep.

_Knock-knock_

Very grateful that he could-

_Knock-knock_

Very grateful that-

_Knock-knock_

Very-

_Knock-knock_

"Who the hell is that!" Yumichika yelled, jumping up from his bed.

He then pushed himself from his bed, walked to the door and slid it open. There was no one there.

"Huh?"

_Knock-knock_

He turned around towards the closed window to see a silhouette cast by the moon through the paper.

_Knock-knock_

Yumichika approached the window and slid it open, only to receive a foot to the face.

"Took you long enough," Yachiru said as she pushed Yumichika to the ground, then landing in the middle of the room.

"What the hell was that for!" Yumichika hissed, making sure his beautiful face wasn't bleeding. "Don't you know it's not polite to kick someone when entering their room? And you enter through the door!"

Yachiru shrugged. "At least I knocked. I could have just slammed through the window and crash onto you."

Yumichika grumbled. "Still. Wait, what are you doing here? I've been looking for you all day! Just where have you been?"

Yachiru was silent for several moments before speaking up. "I did some thinking."

"Thinking?" Yumichika asked, concerned as to where this may lead too.

"Yeah. And I came to a conclusion."

"Just, what kind of conclusion?"

Yachiru turned to Yumichika. "I need your help with something."

000

Ichigo groaned as he walked down the halls.

He was somewhat angry at Toshiro. Kenpachi hadn't even been gone that long and he decided to . . .

Sure, he understood his reasoning behind it, but still . . .

Just why did he have to be picked as a judge?

He wasn't too happy about what he had to do, but as a captain, it was his duty to perform such tasks.

From what he had seen, he was very impressed, and he had to agree with Toshiro and Komamura, the other captain summoned by Toshiro. That is why he had elected to inform Yachiru, and Yumichika, instead of just some messenger from his squad.

He sometimes hated his job.

000

Yachiru slid across the ground of the distant and remote forest, and quickly brought her sword up to deflect Yumichika's strike from Fuji Kujaku. She was then kicked in the stomach and sent flying backwards.

Yumichika paused in his assault to allow her ample time to jump back up.

"Are you really sure we should be fighting like this?" Yumichika asked.

"Yeah, I came up with the idea! I can't get any better with how we've been doing this so far," Yachiru replied.

"Yeah, but you can't even see." Yumichika pointed to the ugly blindfold that she was wearing around her head to cover her eyes.

"Don't question my methods!"

"I'm over here."

Yachiru turned towards where she heard Yumichika's voice. "Don't question my methods!"

Yumichika sighed to himself. They had been at this since last night, and she had yet to show any signs of fatigue. While he himself would rather going to bed, he was more then happy to help her with her request.

"I still don't understand this particular method though," he said.

Yachiru lowered her weapon. "If I'm like this, then I have to depend on my sword to guide me in battle, not myself. I'll be able to achieve my goal much faster this way." She turned her head towards her where she believed him to be. "Now let's make this tougher, and use your real Shikai."

Yumichika was grateful that Yachiru accepted the kido-based abilities of Ruri'iro Kujaku, but to his dismay, she had justified this by saying 'You were never a real manly-man, and were kind of a girly-man. So having a girly sword made a lot of sense!'

While Yumichika knew she didn't mean for it to sound like such an insult, but it still hurt.

"Fine, fine," he said, holding his sword out. "Split an-"

There was then a faint ringing in the ear, prompting Yumichika to stop in the middle of his sword's release command.

"Something wrong?" Yachiru asked, slipping the blindfold off her right eye.

"It's a hell butterfly," Yumichika said, holding his hand out for the small creature.

"What's it say?" Yachiru asked.

Yumichika listened to the message the black insect had been carrying with it. Yumichika eye's then widened. He then dismissed his Shikai and sheathed his sword.

"C'mon! We have to hurry!" he called, quickly running back to the Sereitei.

"Why?" Yachiru called back.

Yumichika just kept running. "Ikkaku's awake!"

Yachiru stood there shocked for several moments, before she ran to follow him, taking only moments to race ahead of him.

000

"Dammit," Ikkaku said, rubbing his throbbing head as he sat up in his bed. "I've been out a while, haven't I?"

"Yes you have," Nel said, wondering where Yachiru and Yumichika were. She had sent the hell butterfly over an hour ago, so they had either received the message and were taking their time getting here, which Nel found impossible, or they were somewhere the butterfly had difficulty reaching.

It was most likely that they (Yachiru leading Ikkaku) had gotten lost.

She was grateful though, that he had appeared to have a lapse in memory regarding the events that landed him here. She half-expected him to wake up screaming and thrashing, demanding to know what had happened to Kenpachi, and threatening anybody who got in his way with death.

"I'm surprised I'm not dead, that cero hurt."

There was then a knock on the door. Nel turned around.

"Oh, hello-" she didn't get to finish her sentence as Yachiru shot past her and jumping at Ikkaku to embrace him in a well-meaning, yet painful, hug.

"AAAGGHH!" Ikkaku screamed. He was sure his bones were about to break.

"Yachiru! Stop! He just woke up! He's still injured! He's going to die if you keep that up! Yachiru!" It was then Nel had gotten a sense of déjà vu.

Yumichika then stumbled through the door, appearing to be exhausted from having to keep up with Yachiru. Though this exhaustion appeared to vanish upon seeing his friend. "Ikkaku!" He then ran past Nel.

The green-haired captain smiled to herself as she left the room.

000

Ikkaku smiled to himself to see both Yachiru and Yumichika alright.

Wait, where was-?

His eyes widened.

000

Nel wasn't even halfway down the hall before she heard loud screams of protest. Several members of her squad rush down the hall to restrain the offended, but Nel raised her hand to stop them.

It was best that the three members of Squad Eleven got through this together.

000

It had been at least ten minutes since Ikkaku's memories had returned to him.

Just how could Zaraki-taichou be dead? Ikkaku had sworn that he would serve under the man until he died. Not the other way around!

What was he supposed to do now?

Ikkaku tightened his fists. He knew what he would do.

He would fight. He would fight twice as hard! Fight for Zaraki-taichou who could no longer fight! He would fight until he his bones broke, his muscles tore, his sword shattered and would fight until he died!

That is what he would do!

'Now what?" Ikkaku asked.

"We do what we've always done," Yachiru said sadly. "Just without Ken-chan."

"Oh," Ikkaku replied.

"It's good to see your back," Yumichika said. "Oh, also, there's something I need to tell you about the captain position,"

Ikkaku raised an eyebrow. This was something that had been brought up many times before by Renji; him being a captain. Ikkaku thought to himself for several moments. It'd be nice to be a captain. He had kept his Bankai secret all these years just so he wouldn't be transferred to another squad to become its captain. Even when Kira, Hisagi, and Ichigo filled those empty spots, he still hid his power out of fear.

Maybe he could-

No. It wouldn't feel right.

"Guys," said a voice from the door. The three turned around to see Ichigo standing in the doorway.

"Ichigo!" Yachiru said happily. "Ikkaku woke up!"

"Yeah, I know. I've actually been looking for you and Yumichika all day, and I guess Ikkaku here just makes things easier," Ichigo replied. "I have to talk to you."

"About what?"

Ichigo looked uneasy with what he was about to say. "It's about the guy who is going to take over for Squad Eleven later this week. Your new captain: Nagasawa Emori."

Please review

Mrfipp


	46. The Eleventh Kenpachi

Fipp: I wonder what his sword does?

Squad Eleven Arc: The Eleventh Kenpachi

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Ikkaku growled.

Ichigo now felt very uncomfortable here, but he continued on nonetheless. He took a deep breathe and began to explain. "A few days ago, I got a message from Hitsugaya to see him regarding important business."

"And what kind of business would that be?" Yumichika asked.

Ichigo sighed before he could continue. "It turns out, shortly after the rest of the captains and vice-captains found out that Kenpachi had been killed," he saw Yachiru stiffen up, she probably still wasn't used to the fact that the man who had raised her for her entire life was no longer apart of it, "someone came forward and was curious about the open captain spot."

"Just who the hell is this bastard?" Ikkaku asked. "What was his name again? Nagasawa Emori?"

"Yeah, Nagasawa Emori. He's Kurotsuchi's third seat."

"Of course he'd do something like this, that bastard always hated Zaraki-taichou."

"Actually, I think Kurotsuchi didn't even know who his third seat was."

"Who's this Nagasawa-person anyway?" Yumichika asked.

"Wait," Ikkaku said. "I think I've heard about that guy. Yeah, I think Akon mentioned him once when he was giving me my new teeth."

"You really need to watch when you fight, you've already lost almost two-hundred teeth. Not very beautiful."

"Can we get back on topic?" Ichigo asked. The two nodded. "Fine."

000

_Ichigo walked down the halls of the First Division until he found himself at Hitsugaya Toshiro's office. He placed both hands on the double doors and pushed them open._

"_What do you want Toshiro?" Ichigo asked, walking into the room. Inside, he saw Hitsugaya at his desk. Inside was also Komamura Sajin, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, and some man he did not recognize._

_The fourth man in the room was of average height, with finely combed, red hair that had been fashioned into a ponytail, and dark eyes. Around his neck was a necklace of round, green jewels, and a blue hairpiece at the back of his head, holding the ponytail together._

"_For the last time," Hitsugaya said, visibly irritated with the informality of his Squad Five Captain. "I am to be addressed as 'Hitsugaya-soutaichou'. I swear, how many years will I have to be in charge before you, as well as Matsumoto and Hinamori, will address me properly?"_

"_So why'd you call me here?" Ichigo asked, ignoring the question he was asked. He then gestured to the unknown man. "And who's this guy?"_

"_Yes, I too am curious as to why I had been summoned," Komamura asked._

_Hitsugaya rubbed his temples and began to speak. "As the two of you know, due to the recent loss of Zaraki Kenpachi," Ichigo winced, "the spot for Captain of Squad Eleven has been open, and with its Third Seat in a coma, and the Vice-captain and Fifth Seat only have been released from Oderschvank's care, the entire Eleventh is unstable."_

"_Yes, both Kurosaki-taichou and I are both familiar with the current situation," Komamura answered._

"_Kurotsuchi-taichou, please proceed to explain," Hitsugaya said._

_Mayuri cleared his throat and took a step forward. "Yes, after I arrived back from the meeting in which we were informed about Zaraki's death, apparently news of it had already have made its way through the city. When I had returned to my division, my third seat, the man over here, approached me and told me we wished to go for the open position."_

"_Wait, what?" Ichigo said._

"_Since I've already disclosed what I need, I shall leave now," Mayuri waved them off and left the room, not even bothering to wish his third seat any luck. Ichigo suspected that the captain didn't particularly care whether or not if Nagasawa actually made captain or not._

"_So you wish to become a captain, Nagasawa-san?" Komamura asked._

"_That is correct, Komamura-taichou," Nagasawa said with a bow._

"_Wait, but, how could-" Ichigo started. _

"_I know what you are about to say, Kurosaki-taichou," Hitsugaya said. "You are close to the members of Squad Eleven, and it seems you care a great deal about who the company is placed under the charge of. In my guess, I would say that you would have Madarame placed as captain, as he already knows Bankai."_

"_Wait, what?! Ikkaku knows Bankai?!" Ichigo asked._

"_Yes, from what I know can gather, probably from before you met him."_

"_WHAT?! How come nobody told me this?!"_

"_Madarame tried to keep it a secret, but various people did know about it, including myself, Abarai, Ayasegawa, Matsumoto-"_

"_Tetsuzaemon, as well as myself knew about it," Komamura said._

"_Also, I think Zaraki himself may have known, but never bothered to report it. And since Zaraki's death, it's now commons knowledge. Same with Ayasegawa's kido-based sword."_

"_Wait! What?! Kido-based! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS?!"_

"_Um, pardon, could we please get back to the main point?" Nagasawa asked, getting the three captains to pay attention to him again. _

"_Oh, yes, sorry," Hitsugaya said. He then turned back to Ichigo and Komamura, each of whom stood to attention. "Nagasawa has reported he has a Bankai, and the reiatsu he gives off would suggest that this is true. At random, I have selected you two to act as proctors for his Captains Exam." He then stood up from his seat and began to walk towards the door. "Come, let us start these tests."_

_The three nodded and followed, though Ichigo was reluctant._

_000_

_Ten minutes later, Ichigo found himself standing on Hitsugaya's right, while Komamura stood to his left. They were now standing in the field where Renji, Nel, Matsumoto and Grimmjow took their tests years ago._

_Nagasawa stood in front of them._

"_Now that we have arrived at where the exams will take place, let us begin," Hitsugaya said._

_Nagasawa nodded his head, ready to go._

_000_

_Ichigo shifted where he stood before jumping into the air, narrowly avoiding the swipe of the blade._

_He was beginning to think that Hitsugaya had some sort of personal vendetta against him, sending him to test out how strong Nagasawa's swordsmen shills were. Ichigo had to admit, he was better then he originally thought he'd be._

_He Ichigo then descend to the ground and swung his blade, only for Nagasawa to jump out of the way. He then felt the man's reiatsu begin to skyrocket. Signaling he was about to do something big._

"_Bankai."_

_Ichgio really wished he wasn't restricted to only his Shikai, not allowed to use either Bankai or his Hollow powers._

_000_

"So what happened after that?" Ikkaku asked.

Ichigo sighed. "The three of us, Komamura, Toshiro, and I, each gave him positive marks."

"What? Why the hell would you do that?!" Ikkaku yelled.

"It's my duty as a captain to pass my honest opinion on him, and I thought that he did well, so, I told Toshiro what I thought." There was a heavy silence in the room. "I'm sorry."

Guilt filled Ichigo. He had felt as though he had just betrayed them.

"It's okay, Ichigo," Yachiru said, speaking for the first time since he started talking. "You did what you had to do." Yachiru then walked past him and slipped out of the room.

"Yachiru," Yumichika said sadly.

Just because the situation changed, didn't mean he still couldn't help her to further her own goal. Maybe she could get Ikkaku to help.

000

The captains and vice-captains gathered in the meeting hall, each on in their respective spaces. The spot for Eleventh Squad Captain open.

"Today, we welcome a new member amongst our numbers," Hitsugaya said. "Not long ago, we had lost Zaraki Kenpachi as Captain of Squad Eleven, but today that spot opens."

The double doors opened up, and the new captain walked in, sporting a fresh new haori.

"Please welcome Eleventh Squad Captain; Nagasawa Emori."

Yachiru took one look at him, and already she did not like him.


	47. The First Days

Fipp: I'm a little disappointed with Bleach; I think Tousen's fight could have lasted a bit longer (though his death was great, and they'll probably spend the first few pages of the next chapter with his laments on his life).

As for the anime, I feel that a number of good fights had been wasted since several zanpaktou have been killed by someone else but their master (bad Ichigo and Kenpachi!), and I really wanted to know more about the second spirit of Katen (but they died the next episode)

Squad Eleven Arc: The First Days

Yachiru grumbled to herself as she walked down the halls of her division.

Hers. Not Nagasawa's, but hers. This is why she made an effort to stay at least ten feet away from him as she showed him around the barracks. Damn the obligation vice-captains had to do this sort of thing for their new captains.

"Kusajishi-fukutaichou," Nagasawa called from behind. "I believe I should note that you haven't really done too much of a particularly well job of introducing me around the barracks."

Yachiru grumbled a response. It was perhaps best she not say them out loud. Many people would be very surprised on just how much foul language she knew due to living with a large number of extremely vulgar men who never even heard of censorship, especially when a little girl was around.

"Is it me, or do you seem hostile towards me," Nagasawa said, rubbing his chin. "I wonder why that is."

"Wouldn't you like to know," Yachiru mumbled.

"If I may have a guess, I would say that your hostility towards me is in relation to the fact I was promoted to be your captain, so soon after Zaraki's death, am I correct?"

Yachiru did not respond.

"It would appear that I am correct in this manner. From what I can tell, Zaraki was an odd one. Joined in a way that has not been practiced since the darker times in Soul Society's history, he never learned his Bankai, the way he ran his squad was so much different then any other squad, and even managed to raise a child, something that most captains never do. He even managed to do this in such ruthless areas such as Zaraki, and Kusajishi, the latter I believe would be your namesake. I would imagine that you would be quite close to him."

Yachiru didn't want to respond to him.

"Well get over it."

She stiffened.

"There is no point in sorrow for the dead. Why bother wasting our own heartache on those who will never return? Do not linger on that any further, as it will affect your performance as my vice-captain."

He began to walk forward, until he had passed Yachiru. He didn't seem to notice the searing reiatsu she was pushing on to him.

"Now, let us return to the courtyard."

"Why?" Yachiru was trying to burn a hole through his head.

"Because that is where we will meet two new squad members."

Yachiru snapped out of her state of aggression. "Wait, what?"

000

"Wait, what?" Ikkaku asked as he and Yumichika sat down on one of the benches in the courtyard.

"Yeah, apparently he's taken two people from Squad Twelve when he was promoted," Yachiru said.

She and Nagasawa had come to the courtyard to meet the new squad members. When she suggested to gather other members of the squad to greet them, he declined, saying it was not a necessary thing. It was only by chance that Ikkaku and Yumichika were here.

"It's not unheard of," Yumichika said. "That when someone is promoted to a higher rank of another squad, such as vice-captains and captains, to bring one of their squad mates with them."

"Yeah, but don't those guys normally bring just one guy with them? Not two?" Ikkaku asked.

"Well, as a member of the Nagasawa clan, one of the more noble families, so I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled some strings to have these two placed here."

"Also, it's Kurotsuchi's squad, and I don't think he cares too much if he lost anyone." Ikkaku turned to Yachiru. "What do you know about these guys?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. Nagasawa wouldn't say anything about them. He doesn't even really seem to care if any of the other guys meet them."

"Tch, what's with this guy?"

"If he doesn't care if the other squad members meet these guys, then why did he insist you meet them?" Yumichika asked.

"Beats me," Yachiru folded her arms over her chest. "Probably just because I'm the vice-captain, and it's my duty to meet the new guys."

"Kusajishi-fukutaichou," Nagasawa said from the main gate. "I would like you to meet the new squad members."

"Fine," Yachiru mumbled. "Come on guys." She gestured for Ikkaku and Yumichika to follow her, which they did.

"Oh," Nagasawa said in a disappointed tone of voice, as they approached. "It would seem that you have brought more people."

"Yeah, I did. They're part of this squad, and they should know who gets to be in it."

Nagasawa gave an annoyed groan with this, but dismissed her. "I would like you to meet the new Fourth, and Six Seats, Tanaka Kazune and Kajahara Baku, respectively."

Yachiru took a good look at the two men.

The one on the left, Kazune, the shorter of the two, had short, scruffy blonde hair that was combed to the left.

The one of the right, Kajahara, was about average height, and had think black hair that was kept in a low, spiky ponytail.

"Wait a minute?" Yumichika asked. "What do you mean 'Fourth Seat'?"

"There is no one in the Fourth Seat," Nagasawa said. "So I it would be irresponsible to leave it unfilled."

Yumichika mumbled to himself. He really didn't like it when someone took the Fourth Seat, sure, Grimmjow had it during his tour in the Eleventh, but Yumichika had respected Grimmjow's power, though he could not say the same for his appearance. How ugly. And this guy, the new Sixth Seat, it was apparent that he did not keep care of his hair well. '_Show some respect at least_.'

Ikkaku growled. What the hell? Just how the hell did these guys even get here? For one thing, that Kazune didn't look like he could hold his own zanpaktou! He was so thin! And he could tell that by the way Kajahara was looking at him that he had already formed a very lowly opinion of him.

Both Ikkaku and Yumichika already knew they wouldn't like these two.

Yachiru on the other hand, would try to at least try to get to know them on a level in which she could tolerate them.

"Hi there!" she waved. They did not respond. "Um, I'm Kusajishi Yachiru, your new vice-captain! And these two are-"

"I'm leaving," Kazune said, turning around and leaving into the barracks.

"My, now that was rude if you ask me," Yumichika said.

"No one cares what you think," said Kajahara, before turning around and leaving down the barracks along with his associate.

"What the hell is up with those guy?" Ikkaku asked.

"You must forgive them," Nagasawa said. "They share the same views I do regarding this squad."

Yachiru raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Kazune and Kajahara, just like me, also come from noble families. I became close to them during our times in Squad Twelve, and I felt it was important to bring them with me, as so I could have at least a few people I could familiarize with without having the feeling of my skin crawling off of my flesh."

Yachiru and Ikkaku blinked in confusion.

"I don't get it," she said.

"Me neither,"

"He's saying that he wanted to bring his friends along because we disgust him," Yumichika explained.

"Oh," they responded.

"Though, he hasn't explained _why _he brought them."

Nagasawa gave them one look before turning around. "I've wanted to become a captain for years, but the opportunity never presented itself until recently. It was my misfortune that this was the squad that had become available."

"From the way you're talking, sounds like you thinking being in this squad is a bad thing," Yachiru said, narrowing her eyes.

"This squad is filled with nothing but barbarians from the more disgusting areas of Rukongai." He turned to the three and saw that they were now glaring at him. He didn't care. "If I recall, aren't you three from these areas as well?"

"Yeah," Ikkaku said.

"We are," Yumichika said.

"I'm from Kusajishi," Yachiru answered sourly.

"Then that's all that needs to be said," Nagasawa answered. He then began to leave the way Kazune and Kajahara left. "I will be the captain of this atrocious squad, but the people of it disgust me, but I will act within the best interest of Sereitei."

He left the three, each one hating him a large amount.

Please review

Mripp


	48. Adjusting to the New

Fipp: Though it did not last long, I thoroughly enjoyed Aizen's WTF moment.

Squad Eleven Arc: Adjusting to the New

"That son of a bitch!" Yachiru screeched, punching her fist into a wall. She created a sizable crater in the stone.

"I certainly didn't see this coming," Yumichika said.

"I really want to kick this guy's ass," Ikkaku growled. "Why's this guy even our captain? Dammit! I'm going to ask Akon just what this guy's problem." He then quickly stormed out of the yard towards the Twelfth.

Yumichika sighed.

"Son of a bitch!"

_CRACK!_

"Um, Yachiru?"

"I'm going to keep care of this problem right now!" She then vanished from sight.

The Fifth seat groaned to himself as he placed a hand to his forehead. "Such a horrible situation we've landed in." He then began to walk into the squad barracks, to find things out.

000

"You!" Ikkaku kicked down the doors to one of the Twelfth's labs and pointed into it. "What the hell!"

"Hello there Madarame-san," Nemu said.

"Oh," Ikkaku lowered his hands in disappointment. He was certain that Akon was in here, after all, wasn't third time the charm?

"How is it I may help you?" she asked.

Ikkaku sighed. If he couldn't find Akon, maybe Nemu could help him.

"Yo, what do you know about Nagasawa?"

Nemu titled her head in confusion. "Pardon?"

"And those two underlings of his?!"

It took the woman several moments to realize who Madarame-san was talking about. Like her father, she didn't pay much attention to the people in her squad that were not important parts of the research department. "Oh, yes; your new captains and the two people whom he asked to transfer, am I correct?"

"Yeah!"

"Is there some sort of problem with them?"

"Of course there is! He freaking hates us?!"

"Madarame-san, while I do not personally know the inner workings of Squad Eleven, Nagasawa has only been recently promoted. It will most likely take him some time to properly adjust to your squad. Why would you think he hates you?"

"He basically said that to us!" Ikkaku bellowed.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah!"

"My, this is interesting."

"What do ya mean by that?"

"When Nagasawa approached Mayuri-sama and I, he appeared very anxious about the possibility of being a captain."

"He did? Did you tell him which squad it was?"

"Yes, in fact, he had already known that it was Zaraki-taichou who had died."

Ikkaku bit his lip in thought. "He said he hates our squad, but he tried to be a captain anyway?"

"That is correct."

"But, why would he-?"

"From what I can gather, it would seem that he was desperate to become a captain."

"That just don't make any sense to me." He began to rub the back of his neck. "If he was so desperate to become a captain, then why not just wait until one of the other captains just kicked the bucket?"

Nemu shook her head. "I am sorry, but I do not know what his reasoning behind it may be."

"Was he in a rush or anything?"

"Again, I would not know the answer to that. But you must remember, that it is not often that a captain's seat becomes open, and with the knowledge that two of the current vice-captains are capable of Bankai, he would have to move quickly."

"What? You mean Rukia and Momo?" Ikkaku thought for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Yeah right! Like those two could make it in the Eleventh!"

"You know that, but he does not."

Ikkaku stopped laughing.

"The moment Mayuri-sama and I returned after we were informed of Zaraki-taichou's death, he approached us."

Ikkaku said nothing as he gave this a moment's thought.

'_Just what is going on?'_

000

Yumichika walked through the halls of the Eleventh Division, trying to find, Nagasawa, Kazune, and Kajahara, as he had a feeling that wherever it was that Ikkaku and Yachiru went, it would result in a senseless fight.

Sure, he loved a good fight every now and then, but unlike other members of his squad, he knew when it necessary to use a sword, and when to use words. If a fight managed to get caused, it could end with horrible results for the squad.

He stopped in his tracks upon seeing Kajahara and Kazune standing just down the hall. He approached them.

"Why hello there Kajahara-san, Kazune-san," he said, as he walked up to them.

"Oh, hello there," Kajahara said, rather reluctantly. "What is it that you want?"

"I was actually hoping to discuss that-" he struggled for a word, "ugly little situation that happened outside."

"What about it?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe myself, you two, and Nagasawa-san-"

Quicker than he could register, Yumichika suddenly felt a blade pressed to his neck.

His eyes traced down the blade down to its hilt, which was being held in Kazune's hand.

"Kazune-san?" Yumichika asked stunned by the man's quick movement.

"You are to address him as either 'Nagasawa-taichou', or 'Nagasawa-sama'," Kazune said with a sharp edge to his tone. "And I would prefer it if you would not address either myself, or Kajahara in such a casual tone," he pressed the blade close to Yumichika's throat, "otherwise I will cut you do where you stand."

He pulled the blade away, only slightly though.

Yumichika narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure that's the only reason?" he retorted calmly.

Kazune gave Yumichika a hard glare before pulling his blade away and sheathed it. He then turned away and began to walk away, turning around a corner and out of sight.

"Hmp," Kajahara turned around and began to follow after Kazune, before stopping in his steps. "If you are looking for Nagasawa-taichou, I wouldn't bother, not long ago he had locked himself in his office, looking over a large pile of paperwork."

"Paperwork?" Yumichika asked. The Eleventh never did paperwork, usually it just ended up in the shredder.

That's what Yachiru called Senbonzakura when she threw papers all over Kuchiki-taichou's garden.

"Yes. Do not further question what they are about, as they pertain to. Also, you are correct; the only thing that kept him from cutting you down, was the fact that two of your closest associates are of higher rank them himself." He walked back down his path, and left around the corner.

Yumichika stood there for several seconds.

He then turned away, feeling disgusted with those two.

000

"Kurosaki-taichou?" Hinamori asked, knocking on the door.

"Huh? Oh, come in, Hinamori," said the voice from inside.

Hinamori slid the door open to see Ichigo sitting at his desk, signing one of many papers that rested in a moderate pile.

"Sorry to bother you Taichou," she said, walking up to him, "but some more papers came in."

Ichigo groaned as he dropped his brush back into its inkwell. "Hinamori, why is it that so many people like sending messages to each other? I mean seriously?"

"It's our job," Hinamori answered, placing the papers on his desk. "The Fifth Squad is in charge of relaying important messages around."

"I know that, but somehow, I don't think," he picked up a random paper and began to read off it, "one of our recruits, asking another one, where she left her berets, is at the top of the totem pole."

Hinamori scratched her head. "Yeah, I think I have to agree there. Oh, also, you have a visitor."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

Just then the door ripped open and Yachiru flew in, aiming a kick at Ichigo's head, but with a quick jump to the side he avoided the blow altogether, and she flew out the window.

"HA!" Ichigo laughed, pointing out the window. "I've had surprise attacks aimed at me since I was old enough to walk! That won't work on me!"

"Anything else?" Hinamori had long gotten used to these sort of things happening around the office. Since Ichigo became the captain, it was not rare for someone from the Eleventh (or Grimmjow) to launch a surprise attack. Pesche and Dondochakka had also pulled similar stunts.

"No, you can leave," Ichigo waved her off. Hinamori nodded and left the room, just as Yachiru flew back in to the room and land on the ground.

"You bastard," she hissed.

"Huh?" Ichigo asked.

"You have any idea what you did?" She then walked up to Ichigo and stared him straight in the eye.

"Do you know what kind of man you put in charge of my division?"

"Um," Ichigo rubbed the back of his head. He didn't get to know Nagasawa that well during the exams, as the man only focused on passing, and said little to him.

Yachiru looked as though she was about to say something, but slowly closed her mouth, and turned head away, as though she was in thought.

It was several moments later that she spoke.

"I just remembered something," she said quietly.

"What?" Ichigo asked.

She turned to him. "How strong is he? Nagasawa?"

Ichigo was surprised by this, as he was expecting . . .

Well, he really wasn't really sure what he was expecting.

"Yeah," he answered. "He's strong. Even though he obtained Bankai not long ago, he's easily on par with most of the captains."

Yachiru didn't respond. He expected some sort of (painful to him) reaction.

Instead, she walked past Ichigo, and right out the door.

"Good," he heard her say.

Please review

Mrfipp


	49. Blasting Through

Squad Eleven Arc: Blasting Through

Nagasawa now sat in his own personal quarters of his family's estate, as he refused to use the room provided to captains in their own squads, but he had refused to even go near it.

The room was filled with numerous papers, each one with complicated numbers written on them and various formulas on them. It would be impossible for most people to understand what they were about.

It was late at night, or rather, early in the morning.

All around him were numerous beakers and various vials that contained different colored liquids.

He poured one of the blue liquids into a dish of green liquid. It steamed for several moments before the liquid turned clear. He sealed the dish up and picked it up.

The man then stood up and walked across the room and kneeled down next to a safe. He pressed several buttons on the keypad, unlocking it, and opened the door and cool mist poured out of the small compartment, he then slid dish onto a tray that held several other dishes that held similar contents liquids, then closed the door.

He then looked over into a small cage that held two mice, and picked up the water dropper and a small water dish filled with water. He picked up the water dropper and emptied its contents into the water, then replaced it back into the mice's cage.

Nagasawa then reached over to a camera placed near the cage and turned it on.

He turned around and went to turn in for the night.

000

There was an explosion.

Something flew through a boulder, then a tree, then into another boulder, which is where the figure stopped.

Yachiru fell to the ground, and with much struggling, got back up.

"You think we're being too hard on her?" Yumichika asked, the tendrils of his Shikai slithering around him.

"Hey, she said to go all out, and that's what we're going to do," Ikkaku grinned, tightening the grip of the handles of his Bankai.

"Still, don't you think two-on-one is a little unfair? And between my beautiful technique, and the raw power of your Bankai could be a little too much."

"Yeah, well maybe, she said she wants this."

"I know, but I can't but help but worry about her."

"Hey! You two ladies!" They both turned to see Yachiru standing up. She was covered in blood (a combination of hers, and theirs) her clothes were torn and overall, looked fairly worst for wear. "We still have lost of work to do!" She then pointed her weapons at them.

"Well, ya heard the lady!" Ikkaku yelled, jumping towards Yachiru.

Yumichika laughed to himself, before he too jumped forward.

Yachiru only grinned before she too jumped at them.

000

Kazune and Kajahara stepped into the large room.

"Certainly an interesting concept this is," Kazune said, walking to one of the large crates in the room.

"In my opinion, this is all seems unnecessary in the long run," Kajahara said, opened up one of the crates and reached in, finding his way through the packaging, he managed to pull out a long, cylindrical object that had a glowing sheen to it. "It would be easier for him to simply let him go along with everyone else."

Kazune carried several more objects similar to what Kajahara had taken a hold of and hefted them above his shoulder. "I myself agree entirely. Due to what he has brought into this world, it is only appropriate that his fate be met in such a manner."

"But do we have to do everything so soon? We have only been in this division for a month."

"That doesn't matter, we will accomplish our tasks."

000

Nagasawa grasped in hand.

That stung, but it worked nonetheless.

He placed on a pair of white gloves on his hand and picked up the small marble-like object and rolled it over in his hand.

"I'm going to have to be extremely cautious with this," he said to himself. "This better work out, otherwise all will be for naught. I don't have any more supplies for anything to mess up and start again.

He carefully placed the object into his pocket and reached for small cage next to the large cage that contained the two mice from earlier.

He was pleased to see that nothing was left of them except small, torn, bloodied corpses.

000

Ikkaku rotated his shoulder. Man it hurt like hell. Why did Yachiru have to hit so hard?

"Just how long have we been at these training sessions?" Ikkaku asked Yumichika, who was sitting right next to him on one of the porches in their squad's barracks.

"Hm," Yumichika, who was laying against a beam, counted the numbers in his head. "I would say it's been about two months maybe."

Ikkaku dropped himself backwards until he was laying on his back. "That long huh?" he said in a faraway voice. "Then it's only been a bit longer since . . ."

There was a moment of silence between them.

"I think we'd better get Yachiru to let up on the hardcore training sessions," Yumichika was the first to speak up.

Ikkaku chuckled. "Yeah, like that's going to happen. She's too gang up on this for a break."

"I know, I know," Yumichika said, waving his hand. "But Oderschvank-taichou doesn't seem to happy that we keep coming in every other day to heal the injuries we've sustained during our little games."

"Well be thankfully that all those fights finally got to her." Ikkaku pointed behind him to Yachiru, who was sleeping on the floor.

"Yes, looks like she finally ran out of energy. Curios, this is the first time I've ever seen her asleep that wasn't the direct effect of a sugar rush."

"Yeah, well hope that this lasts for a few more hours because I'm dead on my feet. I've love nothing more then to sleep for the next few-" he then loudly yawned, "-hours." He then placed hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

"Good idea," Yumichika said, taking the same actions as his friend.

They had a total of one minute of sleep.

"WAKE-UP!" Yachiru yelled into their direction.

"AAGGHH!" they yelled, jumping up into the air, only to fall back down.

"You two need to quit be lazy and stuff," Yachiru said, pulling at the black and gold chocker around her neck, before letting it snap back. "We have an assignment to do."

"Wha-?" Ikkaku groaned, sitting back up.

"Yup," Yachiru held out her hand and revealed a hell butterfly. "It says we got some hollows to kill out in Rukongai. Sounds like some pretty tough ones too."

Yumichika sighed sadly before he stood up. "Such a shame, and I wanted to catch a few hours of beauty sleep."

"Let's get going," Ikkaku said.

"Right," Yachiru nodded. The three then jumped away towards the front gate.

000

Yachiru, Ikkaku, and Yumichika appeared just outside of the Northern Gate.

"Rukongai, right?" Ikkaku asked.

"Yup," Yachiru said. "I think it's that way!" She pointed to the left.

"Actually, it's the right."

The three of them turned around to see Ichigo walking up to them.

"Ichigo?" Ikkaku asked. "What're you doing here?"

"Got a message from Toshiro that said that they're some hollows that needed to taken care of. Guess he sent you guys too."

"To send a captain, vice-captain, and two high-ranking seated officers, this must be a powerful group of hollows to require such power," Yumichika said.

"Anyone else coming?" Yachiru asked.

"No, I think this is it," Ichigo said.

"Then let's go!" She then ran off.

. . .

"That's not the way I pointed."

000

Nagasawa sat down on the chair and pulled the needle out of his arm, and flexed his fingers.

"There," he said. "That should work just fine."

He then stood up, and walked out of his office.


	50. Meetings Asunder

Fipp: I'm torn. While I am a little disappointed that it look that the Zanpaktou Arc seems to be coming to a not-as-strong finish as it could have, that last fight was certainly one of the best filler fights I've seen.

It even had some new kido spells that I'll be using in future battles.

Squad Eleven Arc: Meetings Asunder

"Dammit," Ichigo cursed, trying to pull the sticker thorns out of his robes. "Why are we following her? She doesn't know up from down!"

"Last time we questioned her sense of direction, she bit my head."

"She was kid! I'm sure she outgrew that habit."

"It was last week actually." Ikkaku rubbed his sore scalp.

"Hm, is it me, or have we been here before?" Yachiru asked, looking around. "That tree looks familiar."

"That's because we have been here before," Yumichika said. "Several times. In the last two hours."

"S'that so?"

"Yes."

"Hmm,"

"I'm leaving," Ichigo said, walking away from the three.

"Where're ya going Ichigo?!" Ikkaku cried down.

"To find the damn hollows!"

"But they're that way!" Yachiru called, waving to the path behind her.

"We just came from that way."

Yachiru bit him on the arm.

She would have bitten his head, but he had too much hair.

000

Hitsugaya signed several papers before looking at the clock that hung on the wall.

The weekly meeting was in ten minutes, so he should probably get going soon to get there before anyone else, but he had only a few more papers left and he wanted to leave with nothing on his desk, as he knew when he got back, there would be a stack as tall as Omaeda standing on Komamura's shoulders.

He picked up the last pieces of paper and looked down at them, just glancing them over, before several words caught his attention.

"What the-?" Something like this wasn't uncommon, but this situation was-

He then looked down at the remaining several papers.

He then clenched his fist and slammed the papers down on his desk, before pushing himself from out of his chair and storming out of the room.

000

Nel and Inoue entered the meeting room to find a number of the captains and vice-captain had already arrived.

The only ones who were missing were Hitsugaya, Byakuya, Ichigo, Nagasawa and Yachiru.

"I wonder what we should bring up in this meeting?" Inoue wondered aloud.

"I have a topic on mind," Nel said.

"What?"

"Like making sure that Yachiru and the guys don't end up in our care every other day. I consider myself a patient person, but this is just getting tiring."

"Yeah, I wonder why they keep getting hurt like that?"

"Oi, Inoue! Nel!" Both women turned around to see Rukia walk up to them.

"Rukia," Nel greeted.

"Hello Kuchiki-san!" Inoue happily said. "How've you been lately?"

"Good, thank you for asking," Rukia replied. "But, I wanted to ask you a question."

"A question?"

"Yes; Have either of you seen Ichigo around?"

"Ichigo?" Nel asked, looking around the room. Ichigo did appear missing as she did not spot his sore-thumb hair color anywhere.

"Yes," Rukia answered.

"Doesn't he usually show up with Hinamori-chan?" Inoue looked around to see Hinamori engaged in a conversation with Renji and Kira.

"He does, but when I asked her about it, she said that she hadn't seen him in a few hours."

"Where'd he go then?" Nel asked.

There was then the sound of a stumble, prompting the three of them to turn around to see Nagasawa leaning against the door, his breathing heavy.

"Nagasawa-taichou?" Nel asked with concern. "Are you alright?"

"I am fine," Nagasawa said, standing up. He tried to hide the fact his breath was haggard.

"Are you sure? You don't seem aright." Nel looked down. "And why are you wearing gloves?"

"You wear gloves," Inoue spoke in.

"Yes, but that's my normal attire," Nel answered, before turning back to Nagasawa. "Are you sure? You look a little sick, here, let me check-" Nel reached her hand out, to use a healing kido for a diagnostic check on him, but-

"Don't you dare touch me!" Nagasawa yelled, slapping Nel's arm away with his hand. This sudden flare in temper caused shock in Nel, and drew attention to everyone's attention.

"Hey!" Inoue called, taking a step forward. "She was only trying to help!"

"Tch," Nagasawa sneered. "As if I would accept from help from someone like you."

"Someone like me?" Nel asked hesitantly, eyebrow raised. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean by that."

Nagasawa chuckled to himself. "Of course you wouldn't, a disgusting creature such as you couldn't understand something so simple."

"Disgusting creature," Nel said darkly.

"Yes, a pitiful hollow is all you are, regardless to how much of a shinigami you look like. You are nothing more then a mindless killing machine, regarding as to how many lives you save."

"Where I come from," Grimmjow said, walking forward several feet. "That's a good way to get yourself killed."

"And you just proved my point," Nagasawa smirked.

Grimmjow growled. "Bastard."

"Must I remind you," Nel said to Nagasawa. "That regardless to my origins, the instincts I had as a simple hollow have long been buried. So despite the fact I am a hollow, in a technical sense, I am not."

"As if anything you have to say will sway my opinion of you. You disgust me." He then turned to the rest of the room. "And you are far from the only one."

"Bring it," Grimmjow sneered, his right hand twitching to grip his sword and run the man through. Mosqueda simply stood there; what other people thought of him had no bearing on him.

"You are so conceded to think I was talking about only you." His eyes gazed over the entire crowd. "There isn't one person here who makes me sick to my stomach."

"What?" Renji asked. Sure, Renji could understand not likely a few choice members amongst the ranks to dislike, but to give such feeling, even when he didn't know anybody here all that well?

"Yes, that is true, with the minor exceptions of Kira-taichou, and Omaeda-fukutaichou," Nagasawa said, looking at said people, only to turn away. "Even so, I cannot bring myself to not hate you."

"What'd you say?!" Omaeda yelled out, pointing a finger at the captain.

"What about us?" Kira asked.

"Tell me, Kira-taichou, what separates you two from everyone else here?"

Kira remained silent.

"Your places in birth. You were both born into nobility, albeit lower and not recognized amongst the rest of the families, but still noble. What I hate about you is that you either willingly let yourself be under the command of someone from a _servant family,_" he spat out the last word. Soifon gave him a dirty look. "Or you socialize with people below you with no shame." His stared down Matsumoto, Renji, Hisagi, and Hinamori. "Disgraceful,

"If only the Soul Society could do back to what it once was, long ago; where only those of noble could become a shinigami. But after several centuries, that fool, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, who founded the Sereitei nonetheless, decided to allow the filth that thrives in the Rukongai into our ranks.

"The last century in particular has been nothing but an insult; We've allowed human, Quincy, hollows, and other such filth into these halls."

"Do not insult the Quincy!" Ishida called out.

"I'll say whatever I want about a dead race."

Had Chad not placed his hand on Ishida's shoulder, it was likely he would have attacked the captain.

"You know, from all this talk about 'the superiority of the nobles'," Grimmjow said, "I'm surprised that you ain't kissing up to Kuchiki over here," he pointed towards Rukia, "and her brother."

Nagasawa spat. "As if would hold either of those two in any regard. While the Kuchiki clan is indeed one of the most noble of families in Soul Society, it has been tainted when he took you," he glared at Rukia, "and that married that disgusting sow of a wom-"

There was then a large burst of reiatsu that erupted throughout the room, and Nagasawa felt a blade pressed to the side of his neck.

"So, you've arrived then," Nagasawa said, turning around to meet cold, hard eyes, "Kuchiki Byakuya."

"Nii-sama!" Rukia gasped.

"I didn't even see Byakuya-taichou shunpo into the room," Senna said from her spot in the room. "He must really be pissed."

"You have insulted my sister, and dared to call my late-wife by such an atrocious name," Byakuya said, slightly pressing the blade to Nagasawa's neck, slightly drawing blood. "Give my one reason as to why I should not cut you down where you stand."

Before Nagasawa could even respond, the temperature of the room fell about twenty degrees.

"Nagasawa!" yelled a shout from the door.

"Taichou," Matsumoto gasped at the head-captain's appearance at the open doors.

"I would like to speak with you in my office," Hitsugaya said in a deep growl. _"Now."_

Nagasawa regarded the man, and walked out the door, heading towards his office.

"As for the rest of you! Meeting dismissed!" Hitsugaya then turned around, leaving the rest of the room's occupants in wonder.

"Bastard," Nel said, on her way out. This caught several people's attention as they had never heard her insult someone.

"That was odd," Hisagi said.

"What was?" Hinamori answered.

"I hope Hitsugaya-soutaichou deep freezes his ass," Renji growled.

"I'm not sure why, but that outburst was very odd if you ask me."

Hisagi left the room, troubled by this.

Please review

Mrfipp


	51. Seizing the Moment

Fipp: You know, for a moment, I thought the filler arc would have had a poor end. Good to see I was wrong.

Squad Eleven Arc: Seizing the Moment

Hitsugaya and Nagasawa walked into the former's large office.

There was a heavy silence in the room as they approached the head-captain's desk.

Hitsugaya sat down at the desk while Nagasawa stood in front of it. The younger, yet much more powerful of the two, propped his arms up and rested his head in his hands.

It was a full, painful, minute before either one spoke.

"Nagasawa," Hitsugaya said in a low voice. He reached down onto his desk and picked up several papers and pushed them forward. "Do you mind telling me what these are?"

Nagasawa looked down at the papers, appeared read them over, then turned his attention back to Hitsugaya.

"Yes sir," he said. "These are documents regarding several promotions in my squad."

"Yes, they do seem to be that, don't they?"

"Is there anything wrong with them?" Nagasawa picked the papers up and looked them over. "It would seem that I have filled the proper spaces up with the proper signatures."

"How you signed them is not important," Hitsugaya said, looking directly at him. "What concerns is that the people you wish to promote-"

"Kazune and Kajahara."

"-you wish to promote them to positions to are already filled."

"Yes, I wish to promote Kazune to Vice-Captain, and Kajahara to Third Seat," Nagasawa said.

"And why would you do that?" Hitsugaya said, his tone of voice now sounding more strained. "Kusajishi and Madarame are already in those spots. Or did you forget that?"

"No. I am perfectly aware that they, as well as Ayasegawa also holds a high position, yet," he reached for another paper and showed it to Nagasawa, "you wish for his demotion to an unseated officer, something that would happen to Kusajishi and Madarame if they were to be demoted."

Nagasawa raised an eyebrow. "While I know that it is your responsibility as the Head-Captain to oversee the activities of each of the other twelve divisions, I don't see how who I appoint to which seat in my division should be of any concern to you."

Hitsugaya bit his lower lip. "Normally that is true, but I found several more papers that informed me that you wished to demote _every single officer _in your squad to Twentieth Seat. At best."

"Your point?"

"Yes, do you mind telling me what the hell are you doing!?" Hitsugaya shot up and slammed his hands on his desk. "As a captain you have the power to give and take rank, but this!" He grabbed the paper and threw it at Nagasawa. "This is nothing more then an abuse of your power and position! Do they even know what you had planned?!"

"No, they did not. Why should they? They are simple garbage from the Rukongai, and anyone from there is undeserving of any position within the Gotei 13."

"Must I remind you, Nagasawa," Hitsugaya hissed, "that I myself am from Rukongai? Albeit from one of the more provident districts? And so are the vast majority of the captains and vice-captains?"

"Yes, I am. I was actually talking about my opinions on such thing before you arrived."

"You were, weren't you? Then do you mind telling me as to why it looked why everyone in the room looked like they wanted to kill you, and why Kuchiki-taichou had a sword at your throat?"

Nagasawa shrugged. "He was simply overreacting to a comment I made about his sister, and late wife."

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes. "Kuchiki Byakuya does not overreact."

"Maybe in most situations, but he certainly did in this one. I mean, it is not like that she had any honor to defend, being born into the social class she was."

"Something tells me that you don't think to highly of those not born into a noble family."

"Of course I don't! They make me sick!" Nagasawa stuck his hands into his pocket. "The Gotei 13 was once composed of only the noble, but it devolved over time to be filled with only a few of them whilst filthy commoners fill it." He then chuckled. "If only we could return to the days of old. But," Hitsugaya saw his hands shift. "maybe I could change that."

With one swift movement, Nagasawa pulled his hand out of his pocket and threw an object at Hitsugaya, too swift for anyone to notice.

Hitsugaya caught the object with no effort whatsoever.

"What was that?" he asked, looking over the small object. It was a glass orb, roughly the size of a tennis ball.

The orb the shattered, and streams of light began to pour from it and wrap around Hitsugaya.

"It worked," Nagasawa said, with a smirk.

"What is this thing?" Hitsugaya struggled against the streams as they encased him, making it difficult for him to even move.

"Tell me, Hitsugaya-soutaichou, are you aware as to what a Caja Negación is?"

"Caja Negación?" Hitsugaya felt his strength being sapped from him.

"Yes, it's a device that the Espada used to send disobedient subordinates to another dimension. When Kurotsuchi came back from Hueco Mundo, he had a surplus of information and material from one of the Espada's labs.

"I was able to make several modifications to the design, to allow a shinigami to be trapped."

"What?"

"That is correct. In order to make it able to capture such a powerful man like you, I had to increase its power greatly, draining anyone near it." Nagasawa looked down at his hands. "These special gloves were the only thing that kept me from being killed by it."

"Just, why are you, doing this?" The streams were wrapping around him, giving him no room to see the captain.

Nagasawa only chuckled. "Don't worry, you'll return in about five hours."

The lights exploded, and Hitsugaya was gone.

"But by then, your Soul Society will be cleansed, and you will be too drained to defend yourself."

Nagasawa smirked to himself and turned around and walked towards the large open wall to admire the view.

He then turned around and thrust his palm out, sending a blazing red blast of kido at the door.

It exploded outwards.

"You do know it is rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, am I correct?" he asked, walking up to the door's remains just as two people pulled themselves out of the rubble. "I know you two, you're those Hollows from the Fourth."

"What did you do to Hitsugaya!" Pesche said, pointing at him.

"Weren't you two listening?" Nagasawa said. "A modified version of the Caja Negación." He then smiled. "I guess, if I am to purge the Soul Society, you two should be a good place to start."

"What do you mean by that?" Dondochakka asked.

Nagasawa did not answer. He only drew his sword.

"Dammit," Pesche cursed, before chuckling. "There is something you do not realize about us!"

"Yeah! We're skilled in a manner that you could never accomplish!"

"Really?" Nagasawa raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Simple," Pesche said. "We-"

Both of them turned and ran down the hall. "RUN AWAY!" they screamed.

They were about to reach the door, when Nagasawa appeared in front of them and swung down. They would have been cleaved in half, had Dondochakka not blocked the strike with his own weapon, though they were thrown back into the main office.

"I would prefer it if you don't run away while I try to kill you." The captain walked back into the room while Pesche and Dondochakka righted themselves upwards.

"What do we do Pesche?" Dondochakka whispered to Pesche, who had drawn Ultima.

"Well, we can't fight him and win," Pesche answered. "Our best bet is to try and run, so we see if we can find Nel, or someone else."

"What about Hitsugaya?"

"Don't worry, I think I have a plan."

Nagasawa made the first move, running forward, but Pesche threw his head back and spat out a large amount of Infinite Slick, spreading it across the floor, but he quickly jumped into the air to avoid it.

This move though, left him open.

"Cero Sincrético!" they cried, sending the massive yellow and purple blast at him. It created a massive explosion upon contact.

"That's our cue to leave!" Pesche called out, as he and Dondochakka jumped over the balcony. "Quick! Bring out Bawabawa!"

Dondochakka nodded, about to summon the worm, when the side of the building separated from it. They both looked up to see Nagasawa standing on the remaining floor.

"But how?" Pesche asked, to wither himself or Dondochakka, he didn't know. "It hit directly, he should at least be injured.

The walls collapsed on them, throwing up large amounts of debris and dust into the air as it hit the ground.

"So that's one thing done then," Nagasawa said, sheathing his sword. "Now it's time for the rest of the worms to die."

Please review

Mrfipp


	52. Bloodbath Begins

Fipp: I know it's just an illusion, but watching Aizen get hurt is always amusing.

Squad Eleven Arc: The Bloodbath Begins

Nagasawa appeared onto the roof, before kneeling down in exhaustion. Being exposed to the knock-off Caja Negación for so long had worn him out. And defending against that cero did nothing to help him.

"Nagasawa-taichou!" said man turned around to see Kazune and Kajahara appear behind him. It was the latter that had spoken. "Has everything gone according to plan?"

"Yes," Nagasawa said, standing up. "Everything went well." He turned to the city before him. "We'd better get start now." He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small trigger.

He pressed it.

000

Rukia and Inoue walked through the streets on a mission.

"Did you check his office?" Inoue asked.

"Yes," Rukia answered.

"His place?"

"Yes."

"Closet?"

"Yes."

"Toilet?"

Rukia stopped walking and rubbed her temples. "Just where the hell is Ichigo? No one's seen him all day."

Inoue tapped his chin. "Maybe he slipped and can't get up?!"

Rukia didn't notice her right hand move towards the left side of her waist.

000

Ishida and Chad were both deep in thought over the meeting just now. Ishida was furious about the arrogance that Nagasawa had shown, and while Chad took this more calmly than the Quincy, he too felt uneasy about the whole thing.

He looked down at Ishida, and that blue reiatsu forming around his left hand, a sign on his agitation. He then looked down at his own hands, and saw his own reiatsu flaring up, to his own confusion.

000

"WHAT!?" Iba cried.

"Yes, but I'm sorry, but we will have to pull more of your funding," Nanoa said.

"Damn you," he growled. "Just what the hell do you need at the SWA anyway!?"

"Our coffee machine is broke."

"YOU HAVE A COFFEE MACHINE!?" He turned to their mediator, Sasakibe, for support. "What the hell?! Why do they get a coffee machine when we don't even get a water cooler!?"

Sasakibe said nothing, but only placed his hand on his sword.

000

There was a loud clash, then the wall exploded outwards

Omaeda stood up, shaking his head. He looked on the other side of the hole and saw both Senna and Mosqueda, each one just as confused as him.

000

Explosions ran throughout the narrowed streets.

Kira flew out of the smoke, sword drawn, and landed on a wall.

"What is going on?" he asked himself, looking down at his weapon. He had been the first one to strike. But why?

"Snap!"

Kira barely dodged Hinamori's attack.

000

Renji yelled as he swung his blade down, only for it to be blocked by Hisagi's own sword. The scarred man then quickly pushed the redhead back and fired off a blast of kido at him, but Renji dodged this and prepared his own kido blast, but it exploded. Hisagi took this chance and sliced at the smoke cloud, only to find nothing.

Renji then struck from behind, but was blocked again.

000

Bursts of sound could be heard as Nel ran through the courtyard, dodged the quick explosions as they tore the ground up behind her. She quickly jumped into the air, to avoid another blast, but the sound of static in front o her prompted her to quickly drew her sword.

Seeing his blade had been blocked, Grimmjow quickly raised his first and charged a bala to fire at Nel.

She opened her mouth and prepared to counter with her own.

The two attack collided with each other, creating a massive explosion.

000

"Roar! Tenken!"

The massive armored gauntlet appeared in the sky, only to crash into the ground, narrowly missing the captain.

"Growl! Haineko!"

The ash spun in the air, heading for its target.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

Flashes of pink appeared, heading towards the ash, mixing into a large cloud of grayed petals.

The colossal sword then appeared and crashed down on the cloud.

000

Nagasawa stood on the edge of the roof, while Kajahara and Kazune were in the area behind him, setting up four large, complicated mechanical pillars.

"How much is ready?" the captain asked the two, as he watched the destruction going on around them.

"The machines are almost ready," Kazune answered, pressing several buttons on a panel.

"And I have gone back to the barracks and placed the item where it should be the most effective," Kajahara said.

"Good," Nagasawa said. "And the message?"

"It's already been sent."

"Good." He turned back to his two underlings. "How about we inform our subjects about the predicament in which they are in, shall we? If they are going to slaughter each other, they should at least know why."

000

Rukia managed to quickly spun herself in the air just before she crashed into the wall, and kicked off of it and flew into the air. She then thrust her hand down and fired a massive blast of kido down. A streak of light then flew out of the dust, aiming right at her, but she threw he sword in front of her, blocking the strike, only to be tossed into the air, and crash down to the ground.

She quickly jumped up and faced her opponent.

Inoue stood there, the eight fairies circling protectively around her.

"Sorry Kuchiki-san!" she called. "I don't know-"

"Neither do I," Rukia said.

To the surprise of both, Rukia had drawn her sword, but Inoue's shield had saved her, and to even more surprise, Inoue had also attacked, yet neither one could guess as to why they each had the sudden urge to kill each other.

Just what was going on?

000

"_Attention captains and vice-captains of this city," _said a voice throughout the air.

"Is that, Nagasawa-taichou," Hisagi said to himself.

000

"_By now, all of you have begun to attack your allies."_

"He must be using Tenteikūra to transmit throughout the city," Ishida said.

000

"_I hate the fact that there are so many disgusting people from the Rukongai as shinigami. Nothing but savages, as I see you in my eyes. So that is how you will all die; Fighting."_

Komamura: "What is he talking about?"

000

"_During the meeting no more then an hour ago, I introduced an airborne pathogen that would trigger certain chemicals in your brains that you have you attack your comrades."_ He chuckled. "_And the effects of the pathogen will last until you have killed your comrades."_

Nel gasped. "That's just, horrible."

000

"_But I did make it easier for you though, as Hitsugaya-soutaichou is not partaking in this experiment, as he had been temporarily disposed of."_

"What did you do with Hitsugaya-kun?" Hinamori asked.

000

"_And so I leave you to your own ends, and to all you lower ranked shinigami out there, I suggest you not even try to help your 'captains' and 'vice-captains,' as you will only get caught in the crossfire, and get slaughtered._

"That goddamn bastard," Iba hissed.

000

"_Now, let's see how many of you can survive."_

Please review

Mrfipp


	53. Spilled Tears, Spilled Blood

Fipp: Knew there was some sort of trick, but I wasn't expecting THAT! And now Aizen's taken out seven more people!

They are seriously f*cked up the ass with a ten foot pole.

Squad Eleven Arc: Spilled Tears, Spilled Blood

Just how long had it been? Almost a century?

Yeah, that sounds about right.

She never liked it. The fighting. Sure, she had grown and matured since her abilities had first manifested themselves, but that still didn't change the fact that she never did, and never would, like fighting. Regardless to how necessary it was.

But this, this wasn't necessary.

Inoue just hated this. Being infected with a pathogen that would force her body to attack her friends, in the case, Kuchiki-san. If her body would allow her, she would just stop, and have Kuchiki-san finish her, so she could help the others in some way.

But, she couldn't do that, now that she thought about it. She knew of the burdens she carries in her heart.

The was a clash, and a wave of ice spilt in two as it slammed against the orange shield.

Though, all things considering, she should be glad that her abilities more defense orientated, than offence.

But, too her horror and self-disgust, she couldn't help herself when it came to attacking.

Rukia threw her hand out and cast a kido shield, something that when struck by Tsubaki, gave her enough time to move out of the way, before the fairy sliced her in half.

She landed behind a wall, thoughts similar to what were plaguing Inoue's mind.

She also hated this. She did not want to hurt her friend. She did not want to he responsible for her-

. . .

It took her a while, but while she no held any weight for Kaien's death, she knew that did not change the fact that it had been her own blade that had killed him, regardless to how grateful he had been. This was only made worst by the fact she had trouble getting the image of her sword sticking through his head out of her mind, even if it was just that sick, and twisted Espada.

She just couldn't help but get those images out of her head, and replace Kaien with Inoue.

She hated herself.

Rukia breathed hard. It was difficult to get around Inoue's shield, and harder yet to constantly avoid Tsubaki.

The wall to her right the blew out, prompting Rukia to quickly jump out of the way as Tsubaki came flying back.

"Sorry Kuchiki-san!" Inoue cried out from ways off. She did that after every attack, regardless to whether or not it actually hit Rukia.

"Don't apologize!" Rukia barked towards Inoue. "Just focus making sure that we can keep from not killing each other until we can find someway out!"

"Sorry!"

"What did I say?!"

"Um! Sorry! No-I mean, I'm sorry for-" Inoue cried. She then yelped as a blue blast of kido flew past her head.

She then jumped to aside, as more kido attacks came her way. She put her shield, to protect herself from the blasts that she couldn't dodge. There was then a shift in the air beside her, and she swung Tsubaki out, just in time to block Sode no Shirayuki from cleaving her in half.

Rukia then stepped to the side as Tsubaki flew at her, giving her an opening at Inoue. She then pointed her blade out, and cast the second dance of her Shikai, sending another massive wave at her.

But just as before, her shield came down, and protected her from the attack.

Rukia jumped back again, just as Inoue countered with another attack.

The shorter of the two women couldn't help but be happy that Inoue was quick enough to guard against all her attacks, though she always hated it when she was on the defensive.

She gave it a moment's thought; thinking of anyway on how she could prolong this battle, but the drugs that had been planted in her system would force her hand, and very soon.

She then jumped back, as Tsubaki ripped through the air and towards her, Bara flying a circle around him, meaning that the damage he would do if she were to be hit would be much greater.

Rukia jumped up and landed on one of the walls and ran down it, allowing only herself enough time to fire off a kido spell, which he simply barreled through it. She quickly threw her sword in front of her, having it block Tsubaki, only to be thrown into a building.

"I hope she's okay," Inoue said to herself, as Tsubaki and Bara flew back to her to join the other six fairies in circling around her.

Suddenly, the air exploded in a thick, cold reiatsu, and Inoue barely had enough time surround herself in her shield before she was thrown into a wall by a large wave of ice. She pulled herself out of the hole and looked down to where Rukia had been thrown, only to see her walking towards her, an elegant white robe flowing around her.

"Tokomizore Shirayuki," Rukia said, spinning the crystalline staff of her Bankai in her one hand.

Inoue stood her guard at the sight, preparing herself for a much more difficult fight. As while she knew her shields could defend against a Shikai, she wasn't too sure if she could defend against the power of a Bankai.

Rukia swung her staff, sending a giant wave of ice down on Inoue, but the orange-haired woman quickly wrapped her shields around her and took off into the air, not wanting to risk whether or not she would be able to protect herself from it, but the end result was her being flung into the air. The shorter of the two then appeared above her and pointed her staff down at Inoue and blasted her with another blast of ice, crashing her into the ground, creating a large crater.

Inoue struggled to get up, but slipped on one of the many patches that now covered the whole area. She cried out as she landed on her arm, which she diagnosed as broken in three places. She immediately began to heal it.

There was then a swishing noise behind, and she turned around to see Rukia standing behind her. The shadows cast by her hood covered her eyes, obscuring the upper half of her face, but Inoue could see streams running down her face.

"I'm sorry," Rukia said. She then pulled the staff back, it then grew a large blade at the tip, and she plunged it forward.

Inoue raised her good hand as fast as she could.

000

Ishida did not pause in his steps as he ran from the attacks that Sado had been launching at him. Though he kept his body in movement, focusing on the battle, that did not stop him, as well as Sado, from noticing the large blast of icy reiatsu from the north.

They had both felt the reiatsu of Rukia and Inoue, each of which either flared up, or died down, for the last twenty minutes, though neither one had completely vanished.

Until just now.

The reiatsu that was given off from Rukia's ice was still present, but her own reiatsu, nor Inoue's, could be felt.

This greatly unnerved the two of them, and while they would love nothing more than to check on their allies, they had to deal with themselves.

Please review

Mrfipp


	54. Craftiness in the Domain

Fipp: The current filler, I think is interesting. I rather like seeing the shinigami interact in positive ways with their swords, as opposed to enemies like in the last arc.

I think Zabimaru is my favorite spirit since they'll be with Renji forever, and ever and ever and ever!

Also, all of Ishida's translations are in German, while Sado's are Spanish.

Squad Eleven Arc: Craftiness in the Domain

The wind blew through the streets as the two vice-captains stood in their spots, sizing each other up.

Though, there was no real need for this as they had known each other long enough to know what the other could do, but they had to take every moment they could.

Sado was always the physically stronger of the two, whilst Ishida was the fastest, though both stood on equal grounds in terms of combat.

The Quincy used his free hand to adjust his glasses, slipping them up further up his nose, as he doubted that he would be able to do so once this battle really started, while the reiatsu strings of his bow hummed.

The Pseudo-Hollow flexed his hands, as both coats of armor grew, and covered his arms, allowing the destructive force to flow over both armored limbs.

They both stood for a moment longer, to push aside the disappearance of Rukia's and Inoue's spiritual pressure from their minds, as they could not allow for any distractions, or they might end up the same.

"Sado-san," Ishida spoke up.

". . ." Sado wordlessly replied.

"We are about to engage in a difficult struggle,"

". . ."

"You're right, words can help neither of us at this point."

". . ."

There were several moments where they just stood, before quickly beginning the battle.

Ishida was the first one to act, pulling his bow up and pulling the string back, to fire off numerous bolts of arrows at Sado, but the large man raised the shield-arm up and deflected them off to the side.

He then quickly spun to the side and blocked more arrows as Ishida appeared from that direction and threw his other fist forward, sending a large blast of energy towards the Quincy, only for him to vanish out of sight once again.

Sado inwardly groaned in annoyance that he was unable to strike Ishida, though grateful at the same. He then sensed a burst of spiritual pressure above him and looked up to see Ishida above and fire down numerous arrows down at him.

The bolts hit home, creating havoc upon the landscape. Ishida scanned the ground, looking for any sights of Sado, but saw none. There was then the sound of static above him, and he spun around to see Sado in the middle of the air, and he larger man's fist was pulled back, before it shot forward, sending a massive force of energy at him, engulfing him and sending him crashing into a building.

Sado landed on the ground and observed the damage that was done. He took several steps forward before taking notice of a large crackle of blue energy from within the building's ruins.

Ishida stepped out of the smoke, and with his free hand cleaned himself of the dust that had covered him.

"Sado-san," Ishida said. "It would appear that things have gone a but further then I thought they would, and so quickly. I must now reply on my strongest weapon."

Sado narrowed his eyes and he looked onward to the new form of Ishida's bow.

_The arrow flew across the river and down the forest until it had vanished from sight. _

_Ishida stood on one of the rocks at the bank, focusing on how long he could charge the arrow before it had to be fired off._

'You are not the last Quincy, I am.'

_Ishida gritted his teeth. What really made someone the last of someone? Was it age? If that was true, then he would be the last Quincy for sure._

_Or, was it something else?_

_He looked down at the bow in his hand, Ginrei Kōjaku. It had been taught to him by someone. Everything he knew was taught to him by someone else; either his grandfather, or his father. Two people who (despite his dissatisfaction towards the latter) each knew more than himself. Each one knew skills that no one else knew._

_If he were to truly be the last Quincy, than that could not happed._

_He focused on the bow._

The bow consisted of three vertical lines, and three horizontal lines that crossed over each other, creating nine points of contacts, with Ishida's hand holding the whole bow at the center, and at each crisscrossed section, there was a glowing orb.

"I must now use Neun Bose Bogen (1) for the fight." Ishida pulled the string back, and fired, sending a large bolt-arrow from each of the nine crisscross sections.

Sado quickly jumped to the side, just as the nine arrows whizzed past him, searing the air. He was granted no time to gather his bearings when nine more arrows shot at him. He quickly put his shield up and defended against the arrows, but the force from them kept pushing him back with each strike until his back was to the wall.

Ishida narrowed his eyes. "Heiliger Bose Pfeil." (2) The arrows at each crossing straightened, and grew at the end, taking the shapes of bladed crosses. He let his finger go, sending the blade down at Sado, sending him into through the wall, and collapsing it down on him.

He stood there, carefully observing, and hoping Sado was alive.

His question was answered when a blast of thick, dark energy rained from where Sado was emerging.

_Sado punched forward, sending a large Hollow back, and crashing into another Hollow, destroying both in the process._

_He looked around; Abarai was swinging Zabimaru around, tearing through various Hollows. He could see Kuchiki fighting off the army of skulled enemies. Somewhere, not too far off, he could sense Ishida, running through the tower, and at its top, was Ichigo and Inoue._

_Sado looked down at his own hand, clenched and unclenched it. He had never noticed until coming here, but his powers acted so like the Hollows he was fighting. Since he began, he did his best to pay attention to his arm._

_He could feel it. It was slight, very slight, but he could feel the shift in its power when he destroyed a Hollow._

_This was good. If what he knew about Hollows was correct, then every enemy he defeated a Hollow, for the sake of his friends, it would make him stronger._

Ishida tensed when Sado emerged from the smoke a dust, his Hollow-Armor active. It had spread, no longer covering just his arms and had spread to cover the entire upper-half of his body.

Brazo Derecha de Gigante and Brazo Izquierda del Diablo had become jagged, and smooth respectively, adding complex stripes all around the armor. There was also now a helmet form around his head, complete with two large horns.

"Demoníaco Marmotreto Armour," (3) Sado said, his voice resonating, as though he was wearing a Vaizard mask. He pointed his right, closed fist at Ishida, red energy glowing brightly from within his palm. "La Destruccion." (4)

He opened his hand, and the large, cero-like blast barreled down towards Ishida.

The Quincy appeared high above the air, heavily injured from having narrowly avoiding the powerful cero. He quickly drew his bow, then pointed it into the air.

"Vektor Hat Geschossen!" (5) Ishida called. Suddenly his bow exploded in light, sending countless arrows up, blotting the sky. They then each of which turned around and aimed themselves directly at Sado.

Sado, seeing the countless arrows raining down upon him, thrust his left hand up. "El Sheild!" (6) A sudden shockwave burst from his fist and into the air. It crashed into the arrows, forcibly pushing them away and dissipating them, but the shockwave given off from the blast pushed back into Sado, crushing him to the ground.

Ishida narrowed his eyes, seeing his chance to strike. He quickly dove to the ground and weaved spirit thread around his body, anchoring him to the ground. The nine points on his bow began to glow and intense light as energy surged around it, until they began to drain to the center light.

Sado jumped up and saw Ishida charging his bow. He clapped his hands together, and bright red energy exploded from his hand and began to coat him in it, forming the silhouette of a large horned-skull.

"Letzte Rechte!" (7)

"El Fin!" (8)

The each released their attacks, sending them forward with devastating force, tearing up the surroundings.

There was then a bright flash and a loud explosion.

(1) Nine Cross Arc.

(2) Holy Cross Arrow.

(3) Demonic Behemoth Armor.

(4) The Destruction.

(5) Vector Shot.

(6) The Shield.

(7) Last Rights.

(8) The End.

Please reveiw

Mrfipp


	55. Bash, Slash and Crash

Fipp: And all this time I thought Wonderweiss was retarded and useless. Now I know he's very useful and retarded.

Squad Eleven Arc: Bash, Slash, and Crash

Nanao landed in a kneeling position, and examined the landscape. Her zanpaktou was drawn, and a hado spell was ready to fire itself at her fingertips.

She heard a crackle behind her, and she quickly jumped out of the way as Sasakibe appeared from behind her, launching a lightning attack from the point of his sword at her. But she quickly spun around in the air and thrust her hand out, sending the hado spell out, but Sasakibe quickly used shunpo to move out of the way and to dodge it to side.

He pointed Gonryomaru at Nanao, aiming to fire another blast of a lightning at her, but Iba appeared above him, swinging his sword downwards. The First's vice-captain moved out of the way of this attack and swung at Iba, who quickly blocked. The two traded blows; Sasakibe with quick stabs, and Iba with wide swings.

Sasakibe stabbed forward, but Iba used his blade to intercept the strike, locking them into a stalemate as their blades grinded against each other.

There was then a large red glow to the side, and they turned their heads to see Nanao charging another kido spell in her hands. She fired it forward, but Sasakibe and Iba disengaged their blades from each other, and turned to the blast and fired either a blast of lightning, or their own kido spell at it. With resulting collision resulted in the attacks canceling each other out.

Sasakibe and Iba then ran at Nanao, who quickly brought out her sword and readied herself to battle the two.

During her years working under Kyoraku, she had learned not to allow distractions to sway her.

She had to stay focus if she could think of a way out of this situation.

000

From what he heard of the announcement that had been broadcasted throughout the entire city, Mosqueda had prepared himself for a difficult battle. Something that would push him to his limits.

He didn't get that.

So far, all that had been done was Senna, and Omaeda throwing names and insults at each other, and making very funny faces.

"Fatty!"

"Airhead!"

"Rice cake grease monkey!"

"Matted-haired worm!"

"I don't look like I could eat my captain!"

"At least I have an attention span that last more than a few seconds!"

"Bad haircut!"

"Disgusting sash!"

Senna now stuck her tongue out and pulled her lower eyelids down, while Omaeda was red and sweaty with frustration.

'_Just how did these two become vice-captains in the first place?' _Mosqueda thought. He sighed to himself as he raised his fist and flipped the pronged-blades of Draga and readied himself into a fighting stance. _'I am sorry, my comrades.' _The blades of Draga then began to crackle with electricity and his punched his fists forward in several quick jabs.

The attacks flew through the air. Both Senna and Omaeda only noticed the oncoming attacks just at it was upon them.

"Crap."

"Damn."

The attack hit, creating a massive explosion that pushed the massive blast through several walls.

Mosqueda lowered his head in shame; he had just killed two fellow vice-captains. Even if it wasn't his choice, that did not change the fact that he felt horrible about it.

He then felt a sharp edge at the side of his neck.

A chuckle. "Like that could have killed me! You don't know who you are messing with!" Mosqueda turned his head to see Omaeda standing over him, his sword poised to take his head off. He cursed himself; he often forgot that for a man that large and incompetent, he was extremely fast, and could dodge that attack.

Omaeda pulled his sword back and swung it back, to allow extra momentum to build in the blade so it could cut with more ease, but Mosqueda quickly pulled his arms up, catching the blade on one of Draga's blades.

The two of them pushed on each other until they pulled their weapons away and jumped back. The Second's vice-captain then jumped into the air and swung his zanpaktou high into the air.

"Crush 'em! Gegetsuburi!" He threw the sword-not-spiked-flail down towards Mosqueda, who jumped out of the way as the massive spiked-ball crashed down crashed to ground, causing massive slabs of broken stone to turnover and fly into the air as it was drawn back.

Mosqueda took this moment of openness, the short few seconds it took for him to draw his weapon back after he had thrown it, and jumped forward and readied his fists to strike. When his was close to striking him, Omaeda quickly pulled at the chains and flipped them around so Mosqueda's blade became trapped within the chain links. He was then moved into the way of the giant flail, but Mosqueda quickly kicked his foot out kicked at it, the leftover force from the flail sent him flying forward, crashing him into Omaeda.

They tumbled into the air, before crashing to the ground.

Omaeda looked up, to see that Mosqueda had ricocheted off the ground through the wall. Seeing his chance, he picked up his zanpaktou, ready to finish the fight, when he was struck with a bolt of lighting that sent him tumbling into another wall.

"Haha! Got you!" Omaeda cursed under his breath as he jumped up, to see Senna smugly spin Mirokumaru in her hand. "You need to watch yourself!"

"I thought you died!" Shouldn't have Mosqueda's initial attack killed her?

"I made a wind shield and boosted myself out of harm's way!" She then stopped spinning the staff and took a tight grip of it, pointing the blade at the end directly at Omaeda. With one quick move she suddenly spun around, sending a massive whorl of air at him. He quickly braced himself, but the air was too strong and he was sent flying again, into the air.

Senna then appeared above him and stabbed downward, but he deflected this strike with his Shikai's chain, striking her and sending her to tumble to the ground.

Omaeda appeared above her and threw the flail down. Senna pushed herself off the ground and flew into the air as the ground became destroyed.

"Mirokumaru!" she called, spinning around, gathering the winds and leaves with her. She flung the staff outwards, sending a massive wave of air at the much larger man in an attempt to throw him away, but his Shikai was still embedded into the ground, anchoring him and preventing Senna's attack from effectively working on him.

He pulled on the chain when the winds had died down, throwing the flail back into the air and began to spin in around wildly, before letting it fly. Senna then back-flipped through the air, avoiding the spiked ball before sending another bolt-empowered tornado at Omaeda.

It struck him, sending him to the ground. She raised her staff, just about to go after him, when a powerful blunt force struck her from above, causing her to crash to the ground.

"What, the," she groaned, staggering to get back up. There was then the sound of static. She looked up to see Mosqueda, now fully released with his Ressurreccion called upon.

He pulled back an arm, Senna tried to defend herself, but the backhand sent her flying into a wall.

"I am sorry," Mosqueda said. He was not sure if it was more for himself, than for Senna. He then brought one hand up to his face and brought down the goggle-like Hollow mask over his eyes and pointed both of his hands at Senna.

Two large golden orbs then began to charge at his fist, each one crackling with power. He pulled his fist back, ready to punch them forward and unleash the ceros.

But the ground exploded, canceling the ceros, and throwing Senna and Mosqueda away.

"What the hell was that?" Senna asked, flipping herself back right upwards. She then saw Omaeda appear above her as he threw his weapon. Acting quickly, she threw her staff as through it was a javelin.

It missed, flying right past his neck. His attack, on the other hand, struck her, crushing her into the ground.

Omaeda smirked to himself for a moment, believing he hand won. This moment was taken away from him was he was struck by a powerful blast of energy from behind.

Mosqueda watched as Omaeda fell, only to soon pass out from the spear lodged through his body.

All three were alive, but unconscious and badly injured.

Please review

Mrfipp


	56. Magic Acts

Fipp: I thought Yamamotto was in serious trouble there for a moment, but it seems that he has it covered.

This just goes to show you, that a situation is only as bad as you think it is.

Squad Eleven Arc: Magic Acts

Kuchiki Byakuya stood atop one of the pillars that had been knocked away in the fight.

His keen eyes quickly scanned the battlefield to see that Komamura's Bankai, Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō, dissolve, only to wrap around the captain and become the samurai-like armor, the technique known as Amatsuyoroi. This was most likely an attempt to minimize the damage he would do to the surrounding areas, as opposed to the colossal size of its primary form.

Matsumoto was some distance away, having called out her Bankai, Nenshoufunka Haineko, only minutes ago. The large ash cat now hovered over her, its eyes and mouth emitting the glow of the hellish inferno burning within its body.

He closed his eyes, seeing that both his opponents had summoned their trump cards.

"Bankai," is what he said, and the single blade of Senbonzakura then greatly multiplied, before splitting into countless flower petal-like blades.

He turned his head to the side, quickly scanning the Sereitei. His face, as always devoid of any thought or emotion, stared out into the city, before turning his head back to his opponents.

With one wave of his hands, he sent the massive wave of petal forward towards his fellow captains as Matsumoto's Bankai charged forward and Komamura readied his sword and prepared to strike.

000

Hinamori jumped away, to make sure that her distance was kept away from her opponent; One of the advantages about fighting a friend that you've known for so long is that you know what exactly their tricks are.

In this case, she knew to keep a fair distance from Kira, so Wabisuke, which was not yet active, would be unable to at all to affect her.

She then jumped away even further, to put even more space between her and Kira. Her hand began to glow red as she thrust it outwards, sending a blast of kido out at him, only for him to avoid the attack.

Kira grunted to himself as he landed on a slab of upturned ground. Even though he was a captain, fighting against a vice-captain, he knew he was at a disadvantage. While he was more proficient with a sword then Hinamori was, she was the better of the two of them in terms of kido. And since she will knew what his sword could do, she was doing everything in her power to stay a considerable distance away.

He jumped from the slab, and kneeled down behind the rubble just as another kido blast came at him. The rubble would only provide a temporary shelter from the attacks.

Kira then slammed his hands to the ground.

"Bakudo 21: Sekienton!" A giant plume of red smoke then exploded from his hand, covering a large area, and spreading forward.

Soon, the smoke surrounded Hinamori, preventing her from seeing more then a few feet in any direction.

"Bakudo 58: Kakushitsuijaku!" Hinamori slammed one hand to the ground, and a glowing circle appeared above it. Random symbols appeared in the circle, and stopped a moment later.

Just as Kira appeared behind her, his sword ready for a downward slice.

Hinamori quickly spun around and opened her palm, and a small blue circle, a Seki shield, appeared. Kira's sword struck then shield and bounced off, and caused a moment of paralysis in his body.

With only a moment to act, Hinamori gripped her sword and jumped backward, but struck something in midair, causing her to tumble forward.

She looked back to see a shimmer in the air. "Kyōmon!" she realized which spell Kira had setup, preparing for this situation.

Kira swung his arm, sending a crackling blast of energy at her. "Hado 54: Haien!"

Hinamori quickly raised her arms in defense. "Bakudo 39: Enkosen!" A glowing yellow shield appeared in front of her. The Haien spell collided with it, causing a large that threw Hinamori back, and through, shattering, the Kyōmon behind her.

Seeing a moment to strike, Kira jumped forward and raised his sword.

"Raise your Head, Wabisuke!" Pale-blue mist poured off the sword, before it warped, bending twice until it had formed into a square hook. He swung the blade down on Hinamori, but she blocked it with Tobiume, then pointed a finger at his chest.

"Sho!" A rapid percussion force shot from her finger, knocking him back several feet, giving Hinamori enough time to jump up and reposition the grip on her sword, to better adjust to its doubled weight.

She looked down at the sword and evaluated her stance, figuring she Kira would only be able to strike it two, maybe three, more times before it became too heavy for her to pick up, let alone even wield.

"Hyapporankan!" she heard Kira called out. She looked up to see a long white pole in his hand. He then threw it, having it spilt apart into numerous more poles. While the poles had very little accuracy in itself, the fact that it was a scattershot, covering a large area at once, made it a difficult attack to dodge.

Hinamori jumped away as the poles struck the ground, but the number of them made it very difficult.

"Snap! Tobiume!" she called, swinging her sword. There was then an explosion as the sword released, scattering the remaining poles in the air, casting them uselessly aside. She swung her sword in a large arc, casting several large fireballs down towards Kira. He jumped back, avoiding the projectiles as best as he could, and while he was able to escape the majority of them, the force from their explosions managed to throw him off.

The Fifth's vice-captain pointed her sword down at Kira and a green shield appeared at the tip. "Gaki Rekkō!" Green streaks shot from the shield, forming a cage-like array of beams that went after Kira.

The captain quickly reached into his robes and pulled out numerous papers, before throwing them into the air. There was then a bright green flash, and Kira had vanished as the beams struck the ground.

Hinamori landed on the ground, and quickly scanned the area for Kira's reiatsu signature, but she was unable to find it anywhere.

000

Not too far off, a green flash appeared. Kira appeared, and looked down the tower at Hinamori.

He looked down at his sword, and sighed.

This was something that he not wanted to do to an ally, especially someone who was as emotionally driven as Hinamori.

He held his sword out. "Bankai."

000

Hinamori stopped in her tracks as she felt the massive reiatsu in the air. She turned around to see a massive amount of blackness spread out from a central point, where Kira was, as it spread across the sky.

Anyone observing the battle from the outside would see the darkness take shape, and gaining solidity, until it appeared to be a massive black concrete structure.

On the inside, Hinamori was left in the darkness. She could see tall, concrete pillars chained together by cold, massive chains, lining the inner walls of the building.

From where the darkness originated, she could see Kira's haori billowing in the cold, chilling, and damp air.

"Wabisuke no Kurohitoya," (1) Kira said.

(1) Black Prison of the Repentant One.

Please review

Mrfipp


	57. Rushing it Down

Fipp: I've found myself very sad with the recent fillers, not because there's anything wrong with them, but because I find myself pitying the Toju (particularly the third and last ones), as they are merely lost souls who no longer have anywhere else to return.

And I think Sasakibe has spoken more in that Shinigami Cup, then all of his other appearances COMBINED!

Squad Eleven Arc: Rushing it Down

"Wabisuke no Kurohitoya," Kira said, as the prison formed around the two of them.

It was dark. Concrete and chains surrounding them. The air was damp, cold and wet. This Bankai was truly miserable place to be, and Kira couldn't agree more.

The fact he was using it one someone like Hinamori only made things worst.

He looked down at her as the effects of the Bankai began to work away at her.

000

Hinamori knew she didn't have time. She quickly pointed Tobiume at Kira, ready to fire, but . . .

What if she missed him? This would leave her open to a counterattack, making sure she couldn't fight back at all. Oh god, why did she have to fight against someone with a Bankai? A captain no less? She couldn't win, she couldn't win-

No! She had to stop thinking like. She had to erase all doubts in her mind now! Otherwise she might as well just give up. If she gave up, she would be as good as dead.

Though, that wouldn't be that difficult for her to loose, she was trapped inside Kira's Bankai, and she was completely as his mercy.

Her heart began to beat faster as images of her possible death began to run through her head. She hand began to quiver until it could no long hold the sword, having it dropped to the ground.

Who was she kidding? It was over. She was going to die, if not here, then somewhere else. Even if she managed to defeat Kira, which in itself was almost impossible, she would just get caught up in a fight with one of the other vice-captains or captains, and she would been to weakened to do anything to defend herself.

Hinamori fell to her knees, grasping Tobiume, which was propping out of the ground, to keep her up.

Maybe she did deserve to die.

000

Kira appeared next to Hinamori and looked down at his sword.

Its Shikai was poetic, in a way. It would double the weight of whatever it cut, making it heavier until what it was whatever it cut became to heavy to work properly.

It was the same here, to a degree. Instead of weighing down the physical object, it weighed down their conscience, forcing despair to the surface.

The despair would cripple them, soon leaving them being unable, unwilling, to defend themselves.

"I am sorry, Hinamori," Kira said, about to place the blade under her neck.

000

Renji yelled.

He swung Zabimaru downwards, the blade only to be barely deflected by Hisagi.

The captain of the Ninth pushed back, sending Renji into the air. Hisagi then pulled his free arm back and shot forward several burning hado spells.

They quickly flew into the air, surrounding Renji, before suddenly exploding.

"Howl!" Through the smoke, the large, serrated, whip-like Shikai ripped through it. "Zabimaru!" Hisagi vanished with shunpo, to avoid the attack, before it shredded at the ground.

Using the anchored sword, Renji pulled himself down to the ground, before uprooting it, and swinging to where Hisagi had fled to.

The captain quickly jumped away as Renji's weapon attacked the pillar we was standing on, but became quickly pursued by the weapon. He readied his hand, having the glowing javelins of the Hyapporankan appear. He threw them, and while a number of them missed, one of them managed to pierce through one of the sections, pinning it to the ground.

Having a moment to open up, Hisagi jumped to where Renji was and stabbed forward.

The sword was about to stab him, when it was deflected.

Hisagi then dodged to the side, as the floating, segments of Zabimaru flew at him.

"Higa Zekkō," Renji smirked to himself. Long ago, this technique was a last resort, used only when he no longer had any tricks up his sleeves. The result, while devastating to his opponent, would temporary destroy his Shikai, leaving him without its use for several days, before it repaired itself. During his years as a captain, he had been able to prefect this attack, so that he could use it multiple times without it breaking on him.

Though, Zabimaru still complain when he used it, not because it hurt, but just because it was annoying.

Stupid baboon and snake, always bitching at him.

The sections of Zabimaru glided around Hisagi, surrounding him in a twister of razor sharp blade. They began to dive at him, one at a time, each one aiming to cut him down. He managed to dodged them, when they attacked individually, but began to have trouble when they started to attack in groups.

When this happened, he sustained numerous slices across his person. He quickly swung the blade.

"Reap, Kazeshini!" As the blade swung, it slipped into its Shikai form, swing around him, and with a quick flick of the wrist, flicked the blades away. He caught the other blade in his free hand as it flung back to him.

Renji growled to himself as he reformed Zabimaru, piecing the segments back together. He jumped back as the spinning scythe-blades came at him, only to be swiftly withdrawn, before being thrown back at him.

It was now Renji on the defensive, fleeing Hisagi's relentless, and seemingly random, attacks. He whipped his sword out, just as Hisagi attacked.

There was the sound of metal scrapping and grinding, they pulled back their weapons, but found they were unable to.

The two of them looked forward to see that Kazeshini had wrapped around Zabimaru, the two of them now entangled with each other.

"You let go."

"No, you let go."

"Let go."

"You!"

They were now playing tug of war.

"Let go dammit!"

"You first!"

They continued to argue like this, trying to pull over the other one into freeing their sword. It was kind of pathetic, to see two of Sereitei's finest, arguing like little children.

A vein appeared on Renji's forehead. "That's it!" The sword began to glow red. "Bankai!"

The sword exploded in plumes of erupting red energy, pushing the blade of Kazeshini away, and back into its master's hands. Hisagi, having the weapon back in hand, jumped back, as far as he could.

The smoke cleared as the massive snake skeleton reared its head.

"Hihio Zabimaru," Renji said with a grin, his sleeveless haori billowing around the fur garment that was part of his Bankai.

"Shit," Hisagi cursed under his breath, as Renji swung his arm, sending the massive Bankai at him.

The captain jumped high into the air, causing the snake head to crash into the ground, throwing up stone and ground into the air. Hisagi shielded his eyes from the debris, but readied his weapons as soon as it shot out of the smoke cloud.

It made to bite at him, but he narrowly dodged it out of way by flipping in the air. As it passed by him, he threw one of the scythe blades, having it fly around the skeletal muzzle, before tightening around it, and flying back into his hand.

Hisagi pulled at the chains, having him fly at the skull. He landed on the red mane of the monster, and pulled as hard as he could. This resulted in the skull rearing back, soaring in a new direction.

He was now controlling it like one would do with a horse.

Renji growled to himself, see then began wildly whip his arm around, having his Bankai whip wildly around, making it much more difficult for Hisagi to hold on.

With one last thrash, Hisagi lost his grip on one of his blades, causing him to loose his footing on the skull, and spin around it until the second blade lost its grip. He flew through the air, and crashed into a wall.

He pulled himself out of the rubble as quickly as he could.

"Hikōtsu Taihō!" Hisagi looked up to see Hihio Zabimaru above him, the giant red ray glowing in its maws.

000

God, she was pathetic.

She couldn't even pick up her sword. She didn't even want to move. She was going to die here.

Wait.

She looked along the length of the blade.

Why not? It's not like she had anything to loose.

000

It was at this moment that Hisagi and Hinamori said the same thing.

"Bankai."

Please review

Mrfipp


	58. Possible Salvations

Fipp: This comment is all part of Aizen's plan.

Squad Eleven Arc: Possible Salvation

Soifon breathed heavily after she had landed on the ground.

She was furious that she, as well as the other captains and vice-captains had been manipulated in such a matter, forcing them to fight like animals.

She winced at the pain in her limbs from the various stabs, not from her opponents blades, but from her own Shikai.

A chuckle.

Soifon looked up to see Kurotsuchi Mayuri standing there, the poison leaking from the mouth of Ashisogi Jizo.

"My my," he said, tilting his head to the side. "Interesting, so it would seem that not only does your blade have the ability to induce an automatic death if it is able to strike your opponent twice in the same spot, but it also appears that if you stab yourself with it, any poison in your system is expelled, and nay other negative effects from it are also removed." He smiled to himself, despite the fact that the several times he managed to stab her, her limbs were able to still function, and that there were several marks on his body.

The battle had started quickly between the two of them, as well as Nemu, but Mayuri had pressed a button that deactivated her systems, taking her out of the fight before they could even begin.

The match was fast-paced, with Soifon moving at high speeds while Mayuri used the various means that he was infamous for.

"I have to admit, Soifon-taichou, while I am absolutely furious with that worm Nagasawa for using what are undoubtedly are my own chemicals against me," the last half of the sentence was spat out in anger, "but when this whole thing is done with, I'm sure what he has worked on will bring me much joy." He raised his sword, and it began to glow red.

Soifon readied herself.

"Ban-" he said, stopping in mid-command. They both then felt a quick pull in their bodies.

"What the-" Soifon looked down at her body in confusion. "What was that?"

"It seems that there is no longer a reason to continue," Mayuri said, sheathing his blade, before walking away.

'_Wait, walking away?'_

"Stop!" Soifon barked, causing the other captain to do so. "How are you walking away?"

Mayuri sighed. "I swear, I know my associates lack in intelligence, but I was more than certain that they would be able to know the mechanics of such a simple thing."

"No! How are you walking away from this fight! Those drugs that Nagasawa slipped us should remain in effect until one of us is dead! How can you retreat when we're both alive?!"

Mayuri looked back at her with bored eyes. "I suppose I should explain it to you." He turned around fully. "In my body, as well as Nemu's there are numerous chemicals that work with my natural immune system to rid it of any foreign pathogens. The process does take some time, but in the end it always proves to be successful."

Soifon blinked. "So, you knew you were going to be okay?" she asked flatly.

"Yes, yes I did," Mayuri replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME EARILER?!"

"I didn't see the need too."

"Bastard," came out in a low growl.

"It would seem that I have been given several bonus results as well,"

"Like what?"

"Have you noticed that while I am the one who stopped out battle, you never once tried to continue it?"

"Huh?"

"So it seems that ridding the toxins out of one person, cleanses out of those they are fighting." He cupped his hand to his ear. "And from the sounds out it, the others are still engaged in combat."

Soifon looked down. "Just what are we going to do?" That was said more to herself, then to Mayuri.

"We could always unleash a nerve gas that could kill everyone."

"We can't kill everyone!"

"Fine." He snapped his fingers. "Nemu!"

"Yes, Mayuri-sama," Nemu said, appearing right next to Soifon.

"AGH!" Soifon screamed, jumping back. "Where did you come from?! And weren't you deactivated?!"

"Come Nemu!" Mayuri said, walking away. "I have already devised a way to save everyone."

Nemu nodded and followed her father.

Soifon narrowed her eyes. "Just what are you-"

"Oh, and Soifon-taichou, I believe that I will require you assistance for what I have planned."

"You do?" She was now very suspicious.

"Yes, but I certainly hope that your zanpaktou won't mind being worked on."

Suzumebachi screamed inside Soifon's head.

'_We may not have any other choice,' _Soifon retorted.

'_Fine!' _the small fairy whined. _'But for the next year, you have to dress how I tell you!'_

Soifon grimaced.

'_And try and get a boyfriend!'_

Maybe it would be best if she just let Soul Society burn to the ground.

Suzumebachi kicked her in the head.

"Fine!" Soifon growled, rubbing her head. She then followed Mayuri and Nemu out of the courtyard.

000

The forest was quiet, and beautiful. It was the kind of place where if a truly thoughtful person sat by the large pool, listened to the gentle sound of the waterfall, the happy chirps of the local birds, they might have realized something.

This something, might be something that could change the world for the better, so that no longer would people suffer, so that-

"GOD FUCKING SHIT!!!" a loud yelled pierced the tranquility.

Then a large, crescent-shaped blast of energy tore through the area, taking out most it, along with any revelations that would have been held in the future.

Ichigo stood where the blast originated, holding Zangetsu, while he himself was fuming.

"That was a bit much, if I say so myself," Yumichika commented.

"We've been searching for SIX HOURS!" the captain yelled. "YOU!" he spun around and pointed at Yachiru. "This is your fault!"

"Mine?" Yachiru said, completely oblivious that this wasn't her fault. In her head, it was Ichigo's fault for not listening to her directions. She made this point to him.

"Like hell I did! I followed every word you said!"

"Then why are we lost?" Yachiru said, folding her arms over his chest.

"Because you-" Ichigo struggled to say, before stopping. Ikkaku and Yumichika thought that may had had a stroke. Or broke a blood vessel. Or an aneurism. Or maybe all three. They wouldn't be surprised if that happened.

"Wait," Ichigo said, looking around. "Haven't we been here?"

Ikkaku raised an eyebrow. "You know what, I think we have! There's that tree that looks like that Hollow we killed last week!"

"But," Ichigo's eye began to twitch. "Didn't we pass that five hours ago?"

"I think so," Yumichika said.

Ichigo wanted nothing more then to lay down and cry.

There was then the sound of a light ringing noise in the air.

They looked up to see a Hell Butterfly flutter down towards them.

"_Hello there, Kurosaki-taichou," _the message said.

"Is that, Nagasawa?" Ikkaku asked.

"Sounds like him," Yumichika said.

"_I would like to speak with you, so could you please meet with me atop the First Division's roofs if you may."_

"What?" Ichigo asked. "Doesn't this guy know we're on a mission?"

"_If you're asking yourself as to why I am calling for an audience during a mission, do not worry, this missions is merely a faux._"

"WHAT?!" Ichigo hissed. "You mean I've been sent on a wild goose chase?! I'LL KILL YOU!!!"

"_It's just a guess, but I'm going to guess you want to kill me."_

"How did he-?" Yachiru asked.

"_Good, because you'll need that."_

"What's that mean?" Yumichika raised an eyebrow.

"_Whilst you, and the others, were gone, I had begun something."_

The three listened to the what the plan was.

"_If you wish to resolve it, Kurosaki Ichigo, meet me atop the First's roofs, and as for the other three, I believe there's something in the Eleventh's meeting halls you'll find interesting."_

The butterfly then vanished, leaving the four with the same emotion.

"That bastard," Ichigo growled. He grabbed the hilt of Zangetsu, and vanished, running towards Sereitei as fast as he could.

"How could he," Yachiru felt this sentence in the air.

"I knew there was something wrong with that guy!" Ikkaku yelled.

The two of them then jumped forward, and followed Ichigo.

"Wait!" Yumichika called after them. "Something sounds odd! We should-!" But his warning fell on deaf ears. He sighed to himself before running after them.

Please review

Mrfipp


	59. Balance of Power

Fipp: On the manga: The fanfic knew this would happen!

Anime: I bet the shinigami ruin are responsible for more destruction in their own city in one week, than Aizen accomplished in over one-hundred years.

Squad Eleven Arc: Balance of Power

One word.

That is all.

It is enough to change the way the battle is going.

It's a powerful word, and can only be done by the most powerful of shinigami.

000

"Bankai."

000

Kira's eyes widened as red reiatsu poured off Hinamori. He pulled his blade away and jumped back as far as he could before the energy exploded around her.

"Dammit," he said to himself, readying his blade up.

Things were going to get much more difficult here.

000

The massive force broke through the air.

And the next thing Renji knew, Hihio Zabimaru was sliced in half, long ways.

"W-What?" Renji gasped as the halves of his Bankai fell to the ground.

Beyond him, a dark purple reiatsu flowed around him.

000

The prongs from Tobiume shot from the blade, downward and vanished into the ground.

Moments later, the ground erupted as massive spires of twisted metal formed, wrapping around each other, and branching out at the top as they reached towards the ceiling.

The formation stopped, until there was now a large metal tree, glowing a bright red aura, lighting the dark prison. At the top branches, there was a large crackle of energy.

Hinamori blinked, focus relighting her eyes. She shook her head and stood up, before facing Kira with determination.

"Makaishiiku Tobiume." (1)

000

Hisagi looked at the blade.

His reflection was looked back at him from a massive, black blade, stained with the blood of everyone he had slain since before he could summon its Shikai form.

He could heard the spirit cackle at his uneasiness at using this form.

Wrapped around his torso were ripping black clothes that billowed in the dark haze that hung around him. Around his shoulders, and waist were large chains that while they appeared heavy, did not weigh him down at all. The end of the chains was connected to his weapon.

A massive pitch black scythe, in which the blade was larger than Hisagi himself.

"Saigoibuki Kazeshini." (2)

000

Kira did not want to fight Hinamori for two reasons;

1: She was his friend.

2: Her Bankai had an ability that would make him useless.

Hinamori stood up and pointed her sword at him, all traces of what Kira's Bankai had done to her gone.

The first ability; Undo effects of other zanpaktou that do not directly cut/crush/stab/ect. her. Meaning unless it physically hurt you, it was negated.

Suddenly, a large fireball appeared at the tip of her fingers, before firing at him at great speeds.

Second ability; Increase damage of all kido spells, as well as allow casting without spell incantations.

Kira dodged the spells that came at him, each one causing mass destructions upon the landscape.

With all the rubble thrown about, and into the air, Kira jumped behind one of the rocks that had been thrown.

He leaned against it, trying to come up with a new strategy.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a loud crackling noise.

"Crap," he said.

At the top of the tree, the energy that had been building up, suddenly lashed out, casting down a massive bolt of red lightning to the ground, very close to where Kira was.

Ability three: Sends out a massive bolt of power to where the opponent is. Should it strike opponent, they are pretty much vaporized. While initial attacks were not that accurate,, it would increase with each strike, though they would always strike in the general location.

Hinamori, now knowing where Kira was, sprinted towards his location, the next several spells already cast and ready to fly off her blade.

000

Renji stood in shock as Hisagi floated forward slowly, the dark wisps hanging over him.

Hisagi gripped the handle of the scythe with both hands and heaved it above his head.

The redhead quickly reacted, giving a quick swing to what was left of his Bankai, allowing it to pull itself back together, as though it had never been sliced in half.

The massive snake skeleton roared to life and flew into the air, just as Hisagi brought the scythe down, sending a large sickle of dark air forward, shooting at him, and barely giving him enough time to dodge it as it shot past him, carving another gash in the earth.

"Dammit," Renji cursed, gripping the red mane tightly as the Bankai soared through the air.

Hisagi spun the scythe around, so that it was parallel to the ground, with the blade pointing towards, and jumped onto it, planting his feet on the shaft. As soon as he had planted his feet on the weapon, a black whirlwind appeared around him, before shooting off into the sky.

"Shit!" Renji yelled, quickly maneuvering his Bankai to twist to the right, hoping to avoid the oncoming cyclone. These hopes were in vain as the cyclone managed to strike the majority of the lower half of the Bankai, sending down entire bond segments and splinters to the ground below.

Renji cursed to himself as he steadied himself in the air, while Hisagi undid his whirlwind, grasping the weapon for another strike.

His Bankai wasn't made for this sort of aerial combat.

000

Kira jumped as fast as he could, trying to avoid the numerous blasts of fireballs, cold snaps, lightning bolts, and whatever other spells Hinamori could fire off at him.

The massive bolt from the top of her Bankai that fired every several minutes did nothing to help him.

'_What am I going to do?' _Kira asked himself. '_She isn't giving me enough time to attack, and as long as her Bankai is active, neither my own Bankai, or my Shikai will affect. I can use kido, but in her current state, I doubt that anything I cast will be able to hurt her. Even if it did, there's no time._

'_The only option I have left is to attack her with close range attacks.'_

Kira gave this a moment's thought.

'_That'd be suicide. Even if I manage to get close enough, the blast from one of her spells will destroy everything aro-"_

Kira paused.

'_Including herself, if she's caught in the spell's backlash! And I doubt that her Bankai will attack me if I'm too close to her.'_

It was risky, he knew, to get too close, but what other option did he have?

He quickly changed direction, and sprinted towards her.

000

Renji gave another curse as Hisagi flew pass him, taking out more of his Bankai. All that remained was the head, and two bone segments.

'_Just what the hell am I going to do? If I remain in the air much longer, he'll kill me.'_

His eyes scanned the landscape, trying to figure out what to do.

'_That's it!'_

He dove.

Hisagi stopped the winds and stood straight on the scythe. He looked down at Renji as his Bankai began dive towards a group of buildings, diving right between the narrow alleyways.

'_Just what is Abarai planning?_

'_Maybe, by diving into that narrow place, I won't go in there in fear of causing too much collateral damage?'_

Hisagi kneeled down, lowering his center of gravity as much as possible.

'_Sorry, but that won't work.'_

Instead of becoming a whirling force of wind, he shot forward, almost too fast to be seen.

He dove right through the narrow passageway and saw Renji's Bankai floating at the back of the alley.

'_He must be resting,'_

Hisagi then jumped, grabbing the weapon and swinging down on the other Bankai, creating a shockwave that shattered it into a million pieces.

The Ninth's captain quickly scanned the area, before realizing something.

'_Where's Abarai?'_

There was then a loud yell. Hisagi looked up to see Renji jump from above, and throw his fist forward, casting a large blast of red kido down.

Hisagi swung his weapon, to defend himself, but it caught itself on the wall.

"Re-Ruhou Omoihone!" (3)

His Bankai then reformed quickly, and the whole thing glowed red.

There was a massive explosion.

'_Shit!'_

000

Sparks flew as the hook of Wabisuke were caught in Tobiume's prongs.

Both Kira and Hinamori struggled to break the lock, so that they could finish this battle.

000

Hisagi groaned in pain, the large burns and gash on his front hurt very much.

Renji sported similar wounds.

That what happens when you use a powerful kido spell with conjunction your Bankai's most powerful laser.

Both stood where the buildings were, their Bankai now having reverted to their sealed forms.

Renji coughed up blood before collapsing.

Hisagi followed moment's later.

(1) Hell Raising Flying Plum Tree.

(2) Last Breath Death Wind.

(3) Massive Bone Rail Gun.

Please review

Mrfipp


	60. White Madness

Fipp: Anyone care to guess what kind of Bankai Gin has?

Squad Eleven Arc: White Madness

A wall exploded as a figure was thrown through it.

They spun around in the air for several seconds before righting themselves up, and planting their feet on the ground, uprooting the tiles before they were able to slide to a stop.

"Dammit," the person cursed, wiping blood from his brow. "That was good, but you must be crazy if you think I'm going to give up?"

"You really are persistent?" asked a voice coming from the hole he was just kicked through.

"Of course I am, Nelliel," Grimmjow said, getting up. He then placed his free hand on his neck and began to crack it. He rotated his other arm, reading himself for another round.

Nel sighed. "You're not going to stop, are you?"

Grimmjow chuckled. "Why would I? I'm having fun?"

Eyes narrowed. "You do realized that the only way for this to end, is with either of our deaths?"

Grimmjow grinned as he thrust his free hand out and shot out a number of balas.

Nel, seeing this, quickly jumped into the air and began to swung her sword knocking away the balas that made their way towards her away.

They suddenly stopped, only to be followed by a large cero.

She dodged this, not having enough time to consume it.

Grimmjow appeared above her and punched down, but Nel raised her arms in defense, and crashed to the ground.

The blue-haired captains dove downwards, pointing his swords down.

He crashed into the ground, creating a large explosion.

He looked around, not seeing Nel anyway.

"Where'd you go?"

There was then a sharp kick to the back, sending him flying through the air. He was about to crash into a building, but he was punched in the gut, sending him to the ground.

Nel landed, spinning on one foot until she slowed to a top and pointed her sword to where Grimmjow had landed.

"Hado 54; Haien." She swung the blade, firing a blast of purple energy to where he had landed.

It exploded when it hit.

Nel lowered her sword, only to putting it into a defensive stance.

"You got a sick sense of humor, you know that Nelliel!" Grimmjow growled, standing up. There were burn marks on him.

"How so?" she asked calmly.

"Oh yeah," he grinned "you don't know this, but back when I was an Espada, that bastard Tousen used that same spell to destroy my arm." His face darkened. _"After that fucker cut it off!" _He kicked at the dirt. "Why the hell did Aizen blow him up? I would have proudly done him in."

"You, really hold grudges, don't you? Even if the person you are holding them against is dead?"

"Damn right!"

"Wait," Nel suddenly said, looking over Grimmjow skeptically. "There's something about that story that doesn't make sense."

The blue-haired man narrowed his eyes. "S'that so? What doesn't make sense?"

"You said that Tousen cut you're arm off, yet," she scratched her chin, "you still have both there."

"What?! That woman, Inoue, fixed it!"

"Oh, that makes things clearer." Nel gave a small laugh. "For a moment, I thought you used to have three arms."

Grimmjow's eye twitched. "You're retarded, aren't you?"

"What? People don't grow arms back."

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" Grimmjow yelled. "You used to cut off Nnoitra's arms all the time! Hell! I cut off Kurosaki's arm just last week! He REGREW it back!"

Nel appeared to think about this for a moment, before snapping her fingers. "That's right! I forgot about that! He didn't seem to like that."

He slapped his hand to his face. "You really want me to kill you, don't you?" Grimmjow wiped blood from his forehead, and into his palm. "Yo, Nel?"

"Hm?"

"Deadcaptainsayswhat?"

"What?"

Grimmjow then pointed his arm out, and fired off a Gran Rey Cero.

It exploded when it hit.

"HA!" I can't believe you fell for something like that!" Grimmjow laughed. "You're so stupid if something like that got you!"

"You're right, I would be stupid."

Grimmjow froze.

"Fu-"

He was then blasted with a cero from behind, and thrown high into the sky.

As he flew out of the dust, he flipped into the air before landing on one of the many pillars that lined the courtyard that lead to the execution grounds.

Nel appeared at the bottom of the pillar. She looked up and spoke. "Don't you tire of this, Grimmjow?" she asked loudly enough for him to hear.

"What? The fighting? Of course not!"

"Even though that this battle will continue to the point where one of is forced to kill each other?"

Grimmjow snorted. "Yeah, yeah, I know, you hate fighting. That's why you're doing everything you can to hold back, right?"

Nel remained silent.

"Well cut that crap out. If we're going to fight, we might as well go out with everything we have!" He grinned.

Nel closed her eyes and looked down. "Why must you be so obsessed with battle?

"We're strong! We're so strong that a fight between us could go on forever!"

She opened her eyes and looked up. "Forever?"

"Yeah! If we don't hold back, we may be fighting for days on end!"

"So, you want to fight, as a means to prolong it so we can be helped? Is that it?"

Grimmjow cocked an eyebrow and shrugged his shoulders. "If that's how you want to look at."

'_The odd thing is,' _Nel thought, _'is that I really don't know if he's being sarcastic or not.'_

"You better get ready!" Grimmjow yelled, before jumping off the tower. He grinned as he placed his hand on the flat of the blade.

Nel's eyes opened at the realization of what he was about to do and raised her own sword in front of her.

"Grind!"

"Declare!"

"Pantera!"

"Gamuza!"

Just as Grimmjow crashed down onto Nel, there was a massive explosion as the reiatsu of they entered their released form.

Grimmjow slid across the floor until he reached the entrance way on the other side of the courtyard, claws extended, and white haori billowing in the wind.

His eyes narrowed, so he could see Nel's new form as she stepped through the smoke, her haori also waving before settling down onto her back.

Nel pawed at the ground, before quickly charging forward, lance aiming straight. Grimmjow charged forward at her as well. She thrust the spear forward, aiming at Grimmjow's chest, but dodged to the right, barely avoiding being skewered.

He slashed downward with his razor-sharp claws of his right hand, but Nel blocked with the shield on the back on her free hand, before striking at him with the side of her lance.

Before Grimmjow could crash into the ground, he spun around in the air, righting himself up in the air, and fired off numerous darts at her, but she threw the lance forward, colliding with them, thus destroying them.

Through the smoke of the attack, Grimmjow sailed towards Nel, and upon reaching her, began to unleash a furry of quick, and powerful attacks.

Nel managed to block these attack with her lance, but was forced to move backwards as she did do.

She spun the lance, catching it on the curves of one of his arm-blades, before thrusting her other hand forward, casting a bala at him.

Just as she cast the attack, he countered with his own bala.

The two attacks colliding with each other caused an explosion that threw both of them away from the other.

Nel wiped the blood from the side of her head, before licking it.

She then fired off a Gran Ray Cero. (1)

"Shit!" Grimmjow cursed, swinging his arms forward.

The cero stopped at Grimmjow, throwing a blinding light as it began to crackle and warp, before exploding.

"Guadañas Azules!" (2) The blades on Grimmjow's arm had now glowed an intense blue, and were extended by an extra four feet.

"Impressive," Nel said. "You were able to destroy the cero with those."

"And I still got more!"

Nel nodded before grabbing the middle of her lance with both hands. "Terremoto." (3) She pulled, separating the lance into two different weapons, and the ground began to shake violently around her.

Grimmjow grinned as he jumped forward and swung at her, but Nel blocked, but was still thrown back. He was about to attack again when the ground from below him shot out, sending a large boulder crashing into him.

He flipped in the air, just to see Nel fly at him, and he began to spin around, sending out countless arcs of blue energy down.

Nel, crossed the lances over each other, having them glow a deep purple, and charged.

The colliding energies crackles and exploded.

(1) If you recall, an Gran Ray Cero needs Arrancar blood to work. So that's why Nel had to consume her own blood.

(2) Blue Scythes.

(3) Earthquake.

Please review

Mrfipp


	61. Requiem

Fipp: Now the anime is back on track! Though, I am a little sad the zanpaktou won't be able to manifest themselves anymore.

And I just love the simplicity of Gin's Bankai, and when he says he Shikai can reach 'one-hundred sword lengths', does that mean the length of his own sword (which is shorter then most blades), or the length of an average sword?

Squad Eleven Arc: Requiem

"Dammit!" Ichigo yelled, running through the forest. He stopped at the edges of the woods and found himself frozen.

The Sereitei had been destroyed. Entire sections of the cities leveled. Large fires marked by black pillars of smoke streaking across the blue sky.

He couldn't believe it.

"Ichigo!"

The captain turned around to see Yachiru, Ikkaku and Yumichika run up behind him.

"You really have to slow down you know!" Ikkaku yelled. He was about to continue with his reprimanding, when he saw they city.

"What the hell," Yumichika said, looking down to the city. "Could Nagasawa really be capable of this?"

"Kurosaki-taichou!" Ichigo looked down the hill to see several lower-ranked shinigami, each one badly injured, though still able to still able to walk. "Thank god you're here!"

"The captains, and vice-captains! They've-!"

"I know," Ichigo solemnly said. "I know."

"We tried to help," the shinigami said, lowering his head, "but we only weren't able to do anything."

"We evacuated the city when we realized there was nothing we could do."

One of the other shinigami looked towards the city. "If Nagasawa-taichou could do this to the captains and vice-captains, than the rest of us wouldn't stand a chance."

Ichigo was silent, before he began to walk forward. "Don't worry, we'll stop him."

"But, what if it's a trap?" Yumichika said.

"Of course it's a trap," Ikkaku said. "The bastard told us where to go! He's got something planned!" He blinked, and turned around to their shortest companion. "Yo, you haven't said anything in a while, what gives?"

"Huh?" Yachiru looked up at Ikkaku. "Nothing, I'm just thinking."

"About what?" Yumichika asked.

"This is a trap. He wants to fight Ichigo, and wants us to go to the barracks."

"Like hell we are! We're going to the first division and kick his ass!"

"No."

"Eh?"

Yachiru walked forward until she was ahead of Ichigo.

"Yachiru?" Ichigo asked her.

"We're going to do what he says," she said, surprising the three.

"Wait, what? Why the hell would we do that?"

"Don't worry," she waved at them. "I'm going to go fight him, I just need something." She then vanished.

"We'd better follow her," Ikkaku said.

Yumichika nodded. "Of course, we have to stick together, don't we?"

They followed.

"Just what are those guys planning?" Ichigo asked himself.

"Kurosaki-taichou?" Ichigo turned around back to the shinigami. "What should we do?"

"Gather everyone you can, and wait until this is all over," Ichigo answered in a reassuring tone of voice. "When all the captains and vice-captains are safe, I'll be sure to make sure it's safe for you to come back. Sit tight."

"Yes, Kurosaki-taichou!"

Ichigo made to leave, but stopped in his tracks. "How long have they been fighting?"

"For five hours, but,"

Ichigo turned around. "But what?"

"Things started to get quiet not too long ago. Maybe fifteen minutes."

He was hesitant to ask. "What does that mean?"

"My guess is, that either everyone is getting to tired to fight, or-"

"I get it," Ichigo cut him off. He then flew away.

As he drew closer to the city, he looked around the city, trying to find anyone, in hopes they were alive.

At the exact opposite side of the city, he could see the Bankais of Byakuya, Komamura, and Matsumoto fighting each other.

Towards the south, he could see a massive black stone structure, but he could sense a red-hot aura inside. Kira and Hinamori's Bankais.

As much as he wanted to help, he knew he couldn't.

He would only get caught up in the fights, and would be forced to participate in the fight until one of them fell.

That wouldn't help anyone.

He had to find Nagasawa, and beat him, and force him to give everyone the antidote to the pathogen.

'_What if there is no antidote?' _said the pessimistic side of him said.

'_Then I'll kill him.'_

As Ichigo flew through the city, it took all of his willpower to not search for certain reiatsu signatures.

000

Yachiru was the first to land at the division's gates. She looked around the area to see that the battles had passed through here as several of the buildings were damaged, or caved in.

"We better put an end to this, and soon." Yachiru ran forward just as Ikkaku and Yumichika outside the gate.

"Just what does she want to do here?" Ikkaku asked.

"I don't know that," Yumichika replied. "She knows we could be walking into a trap, yet she's willing to risk that."

"There must be something here she wants, otherwise she would have followed Ichigo to Nagasawa."

Yumichika started to walk forward. "We better watch out while we're here." He walked through the gate.

"Yeah, I know." Ikkaku slung his sword over his shoulder, ready to draw it at a moment's instance, and followed him through the gate.

_Beep_

000

The door slid open and Yachiru entered the room.

"Where are they?" she asked herself as she surveyed the room. It was messy and littered with various trash that had been there so long that they had actually fused with the hardwood.

The thought of cleaning her room crossed her mind.

Once.

Okay, never really.

But now she was regretting never cleaning, as this would make this much more difficult.

"Where? Where?" She quickly searched the room. Throwing papers around, turning over her sleeping cot, pulling out the draws of her desk and empting the contents.

She sat down in frustration and groaned to herself.

"How could I forget where I put something that important? Where did I put them?" In anger, she picked up the closest object, and ink well, and threw it at the wall.

The panel fell through, and a rightful went off in her head.

"The tunnels to Byakuya house?" She smiled and snapped her fingers. "Of course!" She crawled forward and reached into the tunnel and pulled out a small wooden box. "There you are." She slipped the box into her robe's pockets. "Now, to find Yumichika and Baldy."

She dashed out of her room.

000

Neither Ikkaku or Yumichika noticed the small metal box that had been attached to the overhead arc.

The small red light on it began to blink, slowly at first, but it began to quicken, very fast.

Out of sight from anyone, several other small metal boxes lit up, and also began to blink.

000

"Yo! Yachiru!" Ikkaku called, seeing said person down the hall. "Where the hell did you go? We've been looking for you everywhere!"

"I don't think we can say we've searched everywhere when we've only been looking for less then a minute."

"What were you looking for anyway?"

Yachiru reached into her robe and pulled out the wooden box.

"Is that-?" Yumichika asked.

"You mean you've-?" Ikkaku asked.

"Yes I did," Yachiru nodded. "Come one, we have to get to Ichigo."

000

All of the small metal boxes had now began to rapidly blink.

Then, all at once, they stopped.

000

The three nodded, and were about to move.

Suddenly, large explosions engulfed the compound.

000

Ichigo landed on the roofs of the First Division.

"So, it looks like you've arrived," Ichigo looked up to one of the upper ledges, "Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Nagasawa," Ichigo growled.

Please review

Mrfipp


	62. Treacherous Grounds

Fipp: I think the new anime opening is perhaps the best opening I've ever seen for any anime so far.

Squad Eleven Arc: Treacherous Grounds

The wind blew, softly lifting the haoris of the two captains up to breeze.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," Nagasawa started. "Captain of Squad Five, having had led it for almost a century." He chuckled. "I'm surprised that you've lasted as long as you did."

"Cut the shit," Ichigo growled. "I didn't come back here to cut the breeze, I came here to save everyone!"

Nagasawa shook his head. "Ever the hero, correct? Always the first to rush onto the scene, to make sure those you care about are safe, regardless of personal cost."

"That sounds like me. You wouldn't be the first person to say I have a hero complex." This list of people had ranged from Rukia, to everyone in his squad, and to Pulses he had meet in the Living World, who somehow had never heard of him, but still knew him.

"And now you are here, ready to fight me. Like a sheep to the wolf." He casually placed his left hand his sword. "You do know, I most likely have already thought up several scenarios in which would guarantee my victory over you?"

"That came to mind."

"Then why fight, knowing you might die here? Or, do you want to die?"

"I'm not fighting because of anything I _want_, I'm fighting because I _have _to."

Another chuckle. "Something I heard you are famous for saying."

"Before we start, I want to know something."

"And what would that be?"

"Why, if you wanted all the captains and vice-captains gone, then why did you send me, and Yachiru, Ikkaku, and Yumichika, away when you could have infected us too?"

"You are bright it seems." Nagasawa jumped off the tower and landed gracefully on the ground. "You're right, I could have as easily infected you and the others as I did the others, but I didn't, because of reasons that are all my own."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "And what reasons are those?"

Nagasawa lifted his arm out and pointed out towards the city. "That, is one reason."

Ichigo hesitantly looked in the direction that Nagasawa was pointing. "What am I looking for?"

"Do you see that column of smoke?"

"Which one?"

"The newer one."

Ichigo found it quickly. It was darker, and much more full in appearance than the others. "That wasn't there when I came back. What is-?" He spun back to Nagasawa, who was smugly smirking. "That's where the Eleventh Division is!"

"Yes it is Kurosaki, yes it is."

Ichigo grabbed the hilt of Zangetsu, ready to pull the sword off his back. "What the hell did you do?!"

"You asked me on why I excluded you and the other, correct?"

"Answer me!"

"The members of Squad Eleven are notoriously known for being berserkers, going into battle at the first moment's instant and fighting until the end. It would have been fitting, had I included Kusajishi, Madarame, and Ayasegawa, they would have been forced to battle to the death, something they would revel in.

"I would not grant them this. So, instead I had planted several devices that would trigger when their reiatsu entered the grounds."

"What did they trigger?"

"Explosions. And as you can see, the whole division is leveled. And as for you-"

"Enough of this!" Ichigo yelled, black reiatsu swirling around him. "I'm finishing this now!"

Ichigo drew his sword, and as the wrappings loosened and fell away, darkness erupted off him, leaving a sinister aura in the air.

He pointed Tensa Zangetsu at Nagasawa and looked at him through the horned Hollow Mask.

The very sight of Ichigo with both his Bankai, and his Mask on were enough to send most enemies running.

But Nagasawa stood still.

Ichigo then jumped, blade poised to cut the man down.

But he was struck with what felt like lightning, and he fell to the ground.

"It would seem that it worked," Nagasawa said, looking up. Ichgio followed his stare and saw a large, metallic sphere floating in the air.

"What the hell is that?" Ichigo rasped through the pain.

"A new device we were working on in the Twelfth. It was built to accompany weaker shinigami on their rounds, so if they were attacked by strong Hollows, it would paralyze them for a time. It seems it works on your Hollow powers."

"Damn it." Ichigo felt more pain lace through his body, preventing him from moving.

"It won't last long, but it should be enough to kill you without difficultly."

He vanished, and a large gashed appeared on Ichigo's chest. Nagasawa then kicked him, sending him backward.

The wound didn't heal.

"The reason I brought you up here was so I could finish you off myself," Nagasawa said, blood dripping from his sword. "When you came to Soul Society a century ago, you brought much change into this world. Humans. Quincy. Even Hollows, the creatures we were meant to destroy, are now out allies!"

Ichigo tried to stand up, but Nagasawa sliced at him again, and struck him above his head, knocking him down.

"I grew tired of how Soul Society run itself long ago, and have since calculated a plan to change it, in my own way.

"I just needed a captain's position to open up."

Ichigo looked up, surprise on his face.

"Wait, what-"

"When I was in the Twelfth, one of my duties was to monitor what entered the Dangai." he chuckled. "Imagine my surprise when I discovered two Vasto Lorde there."

Ichigo's blood began to boil. "You-!"

"I let them go, and discovered that they would make regular trips to that general area. So, all one would have to do, was set up bait for enough Gillian to appear, enough to warrant a captain's presence.

"Zaraki-taichou, who was known for jumping into a battle, was the perfect person to go, meet the Vasto Lorde, and die. As not even he could win that battle.

"And when I became a captain, all I had to do was create the pathogen, and attend a meeting, where all the captains and vice-captains were located. And when they were all dead, I could start my plan to destroy everything.

Ichigo stared blankly at Nagasawa.

"What? You, want to destroy Soul Society?"

"That is correct."

"You're insane!"

"No, I am brilliant, as is what we are mean to do. During the battle with Aizen, Yamamoto was willing to end not only his life, but the lives of every captain and vice-captain to defend Soul Society.

"We will never win the wars against the Hollows, and as long there are souls to feed and spawn them, nothing will do will matter." He shook his head. "After everyone in Soul Society is gone, I will turn my work to the living world, and have the Pulses destroy each other. Without them, the Hollows will have nothing to feed off, and will turn each other. Eventually, this will result in only one Hollow left, who will eventually starve."

"You," Ichigo growled. "You're nothing but a nihilist!"

Nagasawa chuckled. "Maybe so, but it doesn't matter, because as you say, I'm a nihilist." he pointed his sword at Ichigo. "Now, Kurosaki Ichigo-taichou, are you going to fall, or make one last attempt to kill me as a captain of Soul Society.

"No," Ichigo growled, struggling to get up. "That's not it!" Electricity flowed around him, burning every part of his body.

"I'm not going to fight you as a captain."

_Rukia pointed her staff forward, and fired a massive wave of ice, only for Inoue to block it._

"Not as a Vaizard."

_Ishida flew into the air and shot down numerous arrows. Down below, Sado dodged them best as he could while countering with his own attacks._

"Not even as a human."

_The wall fell down, having been sliced from the building, right atop Pesche and Dondochakka. _

"I'm not even going to fight to defend Soul Society."

_Grimmjow flew forward and swung down his claws, causing Nel to stagger backwards from his relentless assaults._

"I'm fighting you because of what you've done!"

_Hitsugaya struggled against the streams of energy._

"I'm fighting for them!"

_Kenpachi laughed. He laughed and he knew he was going to die._

"To end this!" Ichigo tightened his sword, and increase his reiatsu, causing more lightning to course through his body.

Nagasawa smirked.

"You honestly think you can win?"

_Iba fell to his knees. Around him, Nanao and Sasakibe were still fighting._

_At this rate, they would die of exhaustion._

"Even now, they suffer."

_Byakuya threw his hand out, protecting him from the blade of Komamura. He threw out his other one, stopping the mountain of ash._

"You can't save them if you can't save yourself."

_Hinamori's legs almost buckled under her. She wouldn't be able to keep this draw up much longer, and when that happened, she'd die, and the energy building up in her Bankai would strike, killing Kira in an instant._

"Even if they don't die from each other, they still won't live to see tomorrow."

_Senna. Mosqueda. Omaeda. They each sprawled the area. Bleeding and hurt._

_Kajahara jumped down from above and looked at them. Easy pickings._

"There is no hope."

_Kazune drew his sword._

_Neither Renji, nor Hisagi were in any position to defend themselves._

"And you'll die."

_Explosions engulfed the Eleventh Division._

"Farewell."

"No," Ichigo hissed. "This won't end!"

He raised his sword to the side, trying his best to ignore the pain. He aimed to launch a Getsuga Tenshou.

_Light rings could be heard_

A hand grasped his wrist, prompting him to stop.

Ichigo turned to see who stopped him.

"You look like crap, Ichigo."

His eyes widened. "Yachiru?"

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Mrfipp


	63. Turnabout

Fipp: Just how in the _hell _could Urahara build something like that? How could he build something like that and _not know what it did?_

Squad Eleven Arc: Turnabout

Ichigo's eyes widened. "Y-Yachiru?"

"Hey Ichigo," she said. She then tossed Ichigo arm aside. "Hey, you don't mind if I fight his guy, do ya?"

"How did you-?" Nagasawa said. "The entire compound blew-up How were you able to survive?"

Yachiru turned to him and shrugged. "Oh, I just fell through the floorboards and into those tunnels that I made so I could sneak into Byakushi's house.

"Tunnels?" Nagasawa wanted to grind his teeth.

"Yup. If we hadn't have fallen through, we probably would be dead. Now," Yachiru placed her hand on her sword.

"Wait!" Ichigo called. "What about Ikkaku and Yumichika?"

"Don't worry," Yachiru said. "We ran into someone on the way here,"

"Who?" Nagasawa asked.

"It won't matter to you." Yachiru drew his sword. "Oh, and Ichigo?"

"Huh?" For the first time, Ichigo noticed the bells laced into her hair.

"If you get involved in this fight, I'll probably kill you by accident!" Yachiru smiled as she left her reiatsu flare.

For a brief moment, Ichigo could have sworn he did not see Yachiru, but . . .

000

He groaned in pain.

It hurt just to open his eyes, but he did it anyway.

Above him was nothing but orange.

"Ishida-kun!"

"Huh?" Ishida turned his head to the side to see Inoue just outside the dome. "Inoue?"

Inoue smiled. "It's good to see you're okay! Both you and Sado-kun!"

"Sado?" he said weakly. "Where's-?"

"He's okay." Ishida turned his head to the other side to see Sado laying down next to him, and Rukia on the other side of the dome. She was still in her Bankai cloak.

"Wait, I though-"

"That we might have killed each other?" Rukia said. Ishida nodded. "We almost did."

"But I tried to heal a serious wound Kuchiki-san gave me, and after I covered my whole self in Sōten Kisshun, and when I called it off, the effects of whatever was done to us wore off."

"We no longer had any desire to fight," Rukia continued. "When we discovered that, we came to find other people to help." She looked away. "That's when we found you two in the street. It looked like you had almost succeeded in killing each other."

"What about everyone else?"

"Sado-kun?" Inoue gasped in surprise. Just how long had he been awake?

"What about the other people?" the giant asked.

"I wouldn't worry about them."

The four of them turned to see Soifon walking up to them.

"Everything is kept care of."

000

This was it.

Hinamori couldn't hold it for any longer. She would fold. Kira would cut her down, and he would burnt to ashes by her own Bankai's last strike.

This, would have happened, had one of the walls of Kira's Bankai not exploded inwards.

A projectile then shot through the hole and crashed right into Hinamori's Bankai, collapsing the whole thing down.

"What the-?" Kira said.

There was then a sound of static, then an arm grabbed him around his neck, and he felt a sharp prick in his neck.

000

Iba slid across the ground and held his sword tightly.

Across from him, Nanao and Sasakibe were in similar conditions to him; tired, hurt and exhausted.

None of them were in any way ready to continue this fight.

He saw Sasakibe raise his sword, ready to strike.

But a white blur appeared in front of him, and kicked him in the chest.

"What-?"

000

The ash and flowers petal collided against each other, creating a massive cloud of grey and pink.

Suddenly, Komamura jumped from the center of the cloud, and began condensing his reiatsu, ready to swing the sword, which would send a shockwave that would

He was about to swing the sword, unleashing the awesome power it held but-

He didn't notice the small white speck that landed on his arm.

The speck then exploded into a large chuck of ice, soon covering his entire right side, preventing him from moving.

More snowflakes rained down on the could of ash and flower petals, before erupting into more ice chucks, soon encasing the entire thing, and turning it into a glacier.

"That technique," Byakuya said in thought as all three Bankais were rendered useless.

"But, I though," Matsumoto said.

There was then a sharp prick in her neck.

"KYA!" she yelped, jumping forward an grabbing the back of her neck. "Who did-!" She gasped. "Taichou!"

"Is everything here alright Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya said, surveying the landscape.

Byakuya then appeared several meters away. "Hitsugaya-soutaichou," he said. "I thought that Nagasawa had disposed of you."

"He had," Hitsugaya explained. "But that-"

"We saved him!" Pesche and Dondochakka then appeared.

"We saved him, don'tcha know?"

"You did?" Matsumoto asked.

"Yes we did! We're total heroes now!"

_000_

_Pesche and Dondochakka fell down to the ground, the portion of the building fell down onto them. _

_The smaller of the two took a deep breathe and spat Infinite Slick, covering the both of them._

_When the building landed on them, they simply slid out from under it before it could crush them to death._

_000_

"Then after that, we went back and brought him out of that Caja-thingy!" Pesche said. "Nel told us how to break an Espada out of them when she worked under Aizen, so we figured it might work with a shinigami."

"Yes, and I very much appreciate it," Hitsugaya said. He snapped his fingers, and the ice shattered. Komamura landed on the ground, and dissolved his Bankai armor.

"Wait!" Matsumoto said. "How come we're not fighting anymore?"

"Such a simple answer that is."

The group turned around to see Mayuri walk up to them, followed closely by Nemu.

000

"So Kurotsuchi-taichou was able to create an antidote?" Rukia asked Soifon.

"Correct," Soifon responded. "Using toxins he extracted from his vice-captain, he was able to create something we could use to combat the pathogen."

"But how were you able to stop fighting in the first place?" Ishida asked.

"When the poison is neutralized, the people in the area who were also under it are freed from its influences." She raised her arm, the one with her Shikai on it, which had several vials in her hand. "Kurostuchi gave me several syringes to rescue the people who were still infected."

"And we were the first people you came across?" Sado asked.

Soifon shook her head. "Not exactly."

000

Kira's Bankai dissolved, leaving Hinamori's standing alone before it too fell away.

In the middle of the area where they stood, were Kira, Hinamori and-

"So Soifon-taichou rescued you?" Kira asked.

"She did," Nelliel answered. She stood in her Resurrección form. "While our fight had come to a stale mate for a while, she was able to appear and save us before we could kill each other.

_000_

_Nel crossed the lances in front of her, ready to block the next attack._

_Across from her, Grimmjow roared loudly and charged; scythes ready to slice flesh asunder._

_She readied herself for the attack_

_Soifon appeared between the two, and before either one could react, she struck Grimmjow in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He managed to stop himself before he crashed into a building._

"_Soifon?!" Nel gasped in surprise at the captain's appearance._

"_BITCH!" Grimmjow yelled. "Are you trying to fucking kill me?!" He pointed to the butterfly mark on his chest. "I'll kill you!!!"_

"_So you no longer wish to kill Oderschvank-taichou?" Soifon asked._

"_FUCK YOU!!!"_

_Soifon looked down at Suzumebachi. "It would seem that having this modified to make sure the cure was able to get through the skin of an arrancar was a good idea after all."_

000

"Interesting," Nanoa said, having listened to Grimmjow's story.

"Just about." Grimmjow said, his tail flickering in annoyance.

"But, did you have to throw Sasakibe into a building?" Iba asked.

"No."

000

"So everything will be alright?" Matsumoto asked.

"Hopefully, yes," Hitsugaya nodded.

"YEAH! Hooray Taichou!" Matsumoto then hugged Hitsugaya, burying his face in her cleavage.

"MA-MA-MATSUMOTO!!!"

It was a wonder how the most powerful shinigami could be brought back to a child-like state.

"Not entirely," Mayuri brought. "While by now, Soifon-taichou has most likely cured everyone, there's still one issue."

Hitsugaya pushed himself from Matsumoto.

"Nagasawa and his men."

000

Kajahara lowered his sword. "And here I am, thinking you had died."

"Then that, was your first mistake," Yumichika flipped his hair.

000

Kazune growled in annoyance. "Still alive?"

Ikkaku grinned. "Like hell! It's take a lot more than that to kill me!"

000

"Now," Yachiru grinned as she pointed her sword at Nagasawa. "Who goes first?"

000

And so, the members of Squad Eleven readied to battle.

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Mrfipp


	64. A Strong Hand

Fipp: And so we near the end of this arc.

Squad Eleven Arc: A Strong Hand

"I could have sworn you had died," Kajahara said, staring down the man who stood between him and the downed vice-captains.

"Yes, one would think that, wouldn't they?" Yumichika answered, readjusting the grip on his sword. "But nonetheless, I have survived, and I've come to set things right."

"Set things right?" Kajahara raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

A chuckle. "Well, since Ikkaku went after that other man, and Yachiru went to help Ichigo, that only leaves you to fight."

"You intend to fight me? And save these three?"

Yumichika looked back to Omaeda, Senna, and Mosqueda. He turned back to Kajahara. "Well, with the exception of Senna, I'm not too pleased about having to be in the same area as them."

"And why's that?"

"Firstly, I quite like the red Senna wears; it compliments her well. As for the other two; I think that afro is just horrid, and the other is Omaeda, which is self-explanatory in itself."

"Yes, he is rather the loathsome oaf," Kajahara said. "It kind of reminds me of you."

A vein bulged in Yumichika's forehead. "What was that?" he hissed.

"Oh, nothing," Kajahara said as though he honestly had no idea he had just greatly insulted Yumichika. "I was just saying how you two look so alike, you could be brothers."

Kajahara quickly raised his blade and blocked Yumichika's strike. "You're going to take that back before I slice you in-half!" he snarled.

"My," Kajahara smirked. "If you're that sensitive to being compared to someone else, then I probably don't even have to raise my sword." He laughed. "I can probably just throw insults at you all day, and you'll die from the pure raise in blood pressure!"

"You son of a-!"

"You're eyebrows are too thick."

"THICK!" Yumichika pulled his sword back and began to wildly swing at Kajahara, pushing him backwards and giving the man a difficult time to evade.

To anyone who would have stumbled upon the fight, they would find it odd that one of the warriors engaged in said battle, naming numerous callous remarks regarding the other person's appearance, and said other person acting violently towards it.

It would seem, to an outsider, that this battle was a totally meaningless one, despite the grave importance of it.

Kajahara then ducked one of Yumichika's swipes and thrust the pommel of his sword into his gut, causing him to trip backwards. He raised his sword to strike him down but Yumichika quickly blocked it.

"Bloom, Fuji Kujaku!" Yumichika said. The blade glowed green, then arced its blade and into several blades that separated thanks to a hinge at the guard.

He pushed back, sending Kajahara backwards, the multiple blades cutting at his sleeves, shredding them.

"Dammit," Kajahara cursed, as he observed the damage. "So, that's what you have to work with? That's your Shikai?"

Yumichika pointed the blade at him. "More or less."

"Well, if we're using our Shikai, then it would be rude of me to do otherwise." Kajahara raised his sword up high into the air, and flipped it downward so the blade was running down the length of his arm.

Yumichika changed his stance, so that it was in a more defensive form.

"Grasp," he called out. The sword glowed and the blade began to retract up the arm, until it, as well as the handle and guard, had wrapped around the fist. "Hyoumenkaten!" (1) The glow shattered away, and Yumichika could see the Shikai.

It was an odd Shikai shape; instead of forming a blade of any sort, it had become a sort of large metal gauntlet, made entirely of steel-colored metal that went several inches past his wrist. Despite the size of the gauntlet, it allowed Kajahara to move his hands with ease, and its fingers were just as dexterous as his own.

'_That's his Shikai?' _Yumichika thought to himself. _'It's just a glove. How can he fight me with hand-to-hand combat if I have a sword?'_

Kajahara moved his gloved hand into a fighting position.

'_Well, it looks like I'm about to find out.'_

Yumichika readied himself.

Kajahara jumped forward, rearing his fist back, before launching it forward.

The speed of the attack greatly surprised Yumichika, and he raised his sword to block it, but the fist colliding with his sword sent tremors through his body, shaking him to the core.

He was sent flying back, crashing through a wall.

And two more after that before falling to the ground and rolling to a stop.

He hissed in pain and he rolled onto his back and jumped back to his feet.

"Damn," he grunted. "That packed some punch in it."

"And I was holding back too!" came Kajahara's voice from above.

Yumichika quickly jumped forward, just the man came down, and punched the ground.

The resulting attack to the ground caused a small, yet sizable, earthquake, and despite the fact Yumichika had fled from the immediate area, he was still caught up in the quake and tossed like a rag doll.

"Can't handle it, can you?" Kajahara asked as he approached where Yumichika had landed. "Not surprised. If I manage to get a direct it on you, even one hit, there won't be enough of you to patch up with all the medical kido in the worlds."

"Why don't you keep your mouth shut," Yumichika struggled to get up.

Kajahara smirked. "Don't worry, you won't have to hear my voice much longer." He charged forward and swung at Yumichika, but he quickly dodged to the left, and brought his sword up and swung it down on his opponent.

But Kajahara pulled his arm back, catching the blade on the gauntlet, and pushed Yumichika back, having him stumble into a wall.

He quickly rolled to the side as Kajahara's fist went right through the wall. Yumichika was about to stab him, but Kajahara pulled his arm out, pulling out a massive two-by-four, thus causing the wall to collapse in Yumichika's direction.

He fell backwards as the mortar fell around him. When he looked up he saw that Kajahara held the two-by-four up, and aimed to bring it down on him.

He rolled out of the way again just as the wood came down on him, having it splinter into countless slivers of wood, many of which embedded themselves into his left side (as that was the side showing to it as it splintered). He yelled in pain as he rolled this side, before being kicked across the ground, and slid until he was halfway to the next wall.

"And here I was, expecting a challenge from you," Kajahara said, flexing his fingers after dropping what remained of the wood.

Yumichika struggled to get up, managing to do so with much strain, but as soon as he was up, Kajahara appeared in front of him, and gently flicked him in the chest.

Of course, a 'gentle flick' with Hyoumenkaten, was enough to almost break his rib cage, and sent him flying across the courtyard, and crashing into another wall.

He groaned in pain as he tried to stand up, but he could only manage to sit up, and lay against the wall.

"Is that it?" Kajahara asked, walking to where Yumichika lay. "Okay sure, you've got a broken ribcage, back filled with splinters, internal bleeding and a possible broken arm. But from what I've heard, you've gone through worst."

"I have," Yumichika said. "I've gone through much worst than this!" He narrowed his eyes. "And I will make it out of this one too!"

He glowed green.

"Split and Deviate, Ruri'iro Kujaku!" The sickle-blades exploded into colorful light and grew, soon hanging over them. He swung the sword, sending the reiatsu-draining vine towards him.

Instead of fleeing from the vines as they approached, he reached out, and grabbed them with his Shikai.

Yumichika's eyes widened at this.

"Is that all?" Kajahara indifferently asked. "I was seriously expecting something more."

"But-but how?" Yumichika gasped.

Kajahara chuckled. "This glove, not only have to break any physical barrier, but it also acts as a barrier against kido-based attacks as well. So-" He yanked the vines, pulling the sword right out of Yumichika's hand, then tossed it over his shoulder, where it clattered to the ground. "Now, let's see what kind of noise you make when I rip your skull from inside your head, and beat you to death with it."

"That sounds physically impossible."

"We won't know until we try." He pulled his fist back and ran towards him.

Yumichika raised his arm, ready to feebly protect himself from the attack.

Kajahara was now right above him. He raised his arm, ready to bring his fist down and crush the man.

But it stopped, and Kajahara's eyes widened.

Yumichika smirked.

"What the-," Kajahara looked behind him to see the vines from Yumichika's discarded sword wrap around his arms and neck.

"Heh," Yumichika laughed. "You thought, that just because I was no longer holding my sword, that it would stop working?" He reached out his hand, and the vines slithered around Kajahara, placing the handle back into his hand.

"No!" Kajahara yelled into the air, as his reiatsu was taken from him. "NO!"

"NOOOOOO!!!"

000

The first thing Senna had noticed that she was no longer hurting like hell.

She opened her eyes to see that she, as well as Omaeda and Mosqueda were placed against a wall.

"Ah, so it seems you're all better." She turned her eyes to see Yumichika sitting across from them on a stone.

"Yumichika?" Senna weakly asked.

"You should be fine," he said, answering the questions she was about to ask. "I saved several petals for you three. But right now you should rest." He then looked into the sky. "I wonder how Ikkaku's doing?"

(1) Breaking Point.

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Mrfipp


	65. Desert Storms

Fipp: Who hear thinks Aizen is dead? (no hands raised) Who hear thinks that even though he likely failed, Urahara looked awesome doing all that stuff? (all hands raised)

And please, no Naruto jokes.

Squad Eleven Arc: Desert Storms

"Yo!" Ikkaku said causally, one hand in his robe, and the other hand holding onto his zanpaktou, which he had slung over his shoulder.

Kazune glared at him with calm eyes before closing them and looking away. "And here I was, thinking you had perished."

Ikkaku grinned. "Yeah? Well, it's gonna take a lot more than a falling exploding building to kill us. So if ya want to do me in, you're gonna have to do a lot more than that!"

"It would appear that you are correct." Kazune placed his hand on the handle of his sword. "Though, I implore you to drop your sword, and step aside."

Ikkaku narrowed his eyes. "And why would I do that?"

"So I can kill these two." He pointed his sword at Renji and Hisagi, each of whom were too injured to move.

"Sorry, can't let you do that," Ikkaku grabbed his sword's scabbard. "These guys are my friends, and I'm not about to let you kill a man when he can't fight back."

Kazune sighed. "It would be for the best. In fact, you should just abandon this ploy to rescue Abarai and Hisagi."

"And why would I do that?"

"The answer is simple. You see," he drew his sword. "I, am the wrong opponent for you too face." The left its scabbard completely. "Fighting me, will only result in your death, due to the ineffectiveness of your abilities."

Ikkaku snorted. "What? You think that I'm not going to win?" He cackled. "Good! Then that'll just mean that I'm going to have to try harder to win!" He drew his sword, and with one last yell, charged forward.

Kazune quickly raised his sword and blocked Ikkaku's strike, though his was pushed back by the force of the strike.

With another yell, Ikkaku jumped into the air, before bringing both sword and scabbard down on his opponent.

While he managed to block this, Ikkaku managed to break through his defenses and managed to cut right through his shoulder, and sent him crashing into a wall.

"What the hell?" Ikkaku asked himself, landing on the ground. "Was all that he could do? How come he didn't fight back? YO!" he yelled. "How come you didn't fight back?!"

Kazune stood up and placed a hand to the wound. "I'm not much one for swordplay."

Ikkaku's eye twitching. "You got to be kidding me," he growled. And he replaced Yachiru? Dammit! She could fight better then this guy when she was a kid! "You mean you can't fight worth shit?!"

Kazune raised an eyebrow. "I never said, I couldn't fight." He raised his sword and pointed it directly up. "Now, I will demonstrate as to why I said I was the wrong opponent for you too fight."

Ikkaku, sensing Kazune's reiatsu growing. "Grow!" he slammed the sword and scabbard together. "Hozukimaru!" He spun his Shikai around several times and assumed his battle stance.

"Erode," Kazune said. The blade of his sword then dissolved, pouring what looked like sand onto ground, before it picked itself up and floated into the air, and circled around Kazune. "Sunaarashi." (1)

Ikkaku narrowed his eyes. "What the hell is that?"

"In principle," Kazune explained as the sand rotated around him. "My sword is similar to the blades of Kuchiki Byakuya, and Matsumoto Rangiku. But, instead of transforming into flower petals, or a cloud of ash with cutting capabilities, my blade turns into sand, which I can use to bludgeon you to death with." He raised the remaining hilt into the air, and glared at Ikkaku with indifferent eyes. "Now die, Madarame Ikkaku."

He then swung the hilt down, sending the sand forward, rushing toward the shinigami.

Seeing this, Ikkaku quickly jumped into the air, having it shoot right under him, but with a flick of his wrist, Kazune sent the sand flying back up, having it slam right into Ikkaku's back, before wrapping around his wait, and slamming him into the ground.

And picking him up, and slamming him down several more times.

Kazune spun the hilt around in his hand, causing the sand to compress, forming a heavy and solid weight. It quickly launched to the ground, with enough force to crush Ikkaku, but the man quickly rolled to his back and swung his weapon up, stabbing the blade directly into the sandstone. While he managed to crack it in half, it still fell to the ground, causing an explosion as it cracked the stone ground.

Kazune was about to recall his sand when he Ikkaku yell, and jump out of the dust cloud. He swung his spear, about to cut down Kazune.

But the man quickly formed a shield of sand, blocking the attack.

Ikkaku grinned. "Split!" The spear separated, splitting into three parts connected by a chain, to allow the end with the blade to curve around the shield.

Kazune didn't have a moment to dodge the attack, thus resulting to it cutting at his neck. He grunted in pain and jumped back until his back was pressed against the wall, and had the sand push him back, but he landed on his feet and slid to a stop.

"C'mon!" Ikkaku yelled. "Is that all you have?!" He held the spear out, ready to fight further. "You think just because you can control a sandbox, means I'm gonna give up!?" He grinned. "I am Madarame Ikkaku! Third Seat of Squad Eleven!"

Kazune closed his eyes. "If I recall, you were demoted, and I became the vice-captain."

"Ranks doesn't mean much in this squad, only strength."

"Hn, fine. If that is how you wish to play it." Kazune then slammed the hilt, where the blade would be, into the wall behind him. "You think I am only limited to this 'sandbox'? If you believe that, than you are truly foolish."

Ikkaku narrower his eyes. "What are you getting at?"

"Just watch." The wall behind him suddenly began to rumble. Slightly at first, but after several moments became much more noticeable, until it exploded into a torrent of sand.

"What the hell?!" Ikkaku asked, as the desert loomed over him, casting a dark shadow over him.

"Tell me, can you handle all this?" Kazune then waved his hand, sending the wave crashing down on Ikkaku.

The bald man quickly leapt away as the sand crashed to the ground. And jumped to one of the nearest roofs, but the sand followed him, forcing him to jump away again, having the wave destroy the section of roofing he had been on moments ago.

He growled in frustration and turned his sights back on Kazune. If he could get to him, then he wouldn't have to deal with all this fucking sand.

He leaped from the wall he had been standing on, and threw himself right at Kazune.

The man barely batted an eyelash as the man came at him, with the full intention of killing him.

The sand, despite the massive size of the acclimated wave, was much fasted than Ikkaku had originally though it to be.

It caught him with ease, wrapped around him, and began to slowly crush him.

Kazune calmly walked towards Ikkaku, as the sand engulfed him, leaving only his head.

He shook his head. "I warned you, had you not intervened, you would have stayed alive." The sand began to slowly compress, crushing Ikkaku. "But, you chose to die." He ignored Ikkaku's screams. "Do you have any last words, Madarame Ikkaku?" He began to move the sand over Ikkaku's face.

"Yeah," Ikkaku struggled to say. "Just one,"

The sand completely covered him.

Kazune closed his eyes, and raised an open palm. He was about to close it, ready to kill Ikkaku-

The reiatsu from inside the sand became heavy, forcing Kazune to quickly retreat as the sand exploded in a giant red wave of energy.

"My last word? Ikkaku asked from his standing spot where the sand was. He grinned. "Bankai!" He swung the three massive blades above him. "Ryumon Hozukimaru!"

"B-Bankai?" Kazune asked, showing signs of shock since the first time Ikkaku had met him. "But, that's impossible! You were only a Third Seat!"

A grin. "Weren't you listening before? In Squad Eleven, rank don't mean shit!" He jumped into the air and began to spin the blades, filling the dragon crest on the central blade, and increase his power.

"Dammit." Kazune threw his hands forward, sending out all the sand he had towards Ikkaku, but it was knocked aside by the sheer force of Ikkaku's Bankai.

Kazune then slammed the handle of his sword down to the ground, turning the entire floor they were standing on into a massive desert.

He threw it at Ikkaku.

The shinigami was then engulfed in an orb of sand that could be seen around the city.

He was about to collapse it, when it exploded open as Ikkaku broke free from the floating desert.

Kazune didn't have any time to defend himself.

The resulting explosion lit up the sky.

After the reiatsu had died down, Ikkaku stood in the broken and charred area, shards of glass scattered all over the place.

"Hn," he said, placing his weapon onto his shoulder as it dissolved to its sealed form. "That keeps care of that."

(1) Sandstorm.

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Mrfipp


	66. Fight for the Eleventh Squad

Fipp: I wonder who's going to show up for the fight next?

Squad Eleven Arc: Fight for the Eleventh Squad

"Yachiru," Ichigo said, as said person gripped her sword in her hand. "Are you sure,"

She snorted. "Damn, for the last time, I don't need help with this!" She grinned. "I can't wait to see how fun this'll be."

Nagasawa narrowed his eyes. "So, I have to fight you then?" He groaned. "I was hoping not to sully my hand with your blood, but it would appear I have no choice."

"Try," Yachiru crouched, ready to strike, when Ichigo called out her name.

"Yachiru!"

"What?" She was beginning to get annoyed.

"Before you start," he said awkwardly. "There's something you need to know."

"What?"

He was silent for a moment. "He's responsible for Kenpachi's death."

Yachiru was silent. Ichigo couldn't tell on what was going through her head. Should he had not have told her?

"I see," she said.

And before Ichigo could react, she jumped forward, and clashed her sword against Nagasawa's blade.

"You get right to the point, don't you?" Nagasawa asked, before pushing her back.

He swung at her again, but she blocked this strike and stabbed at him again.

The older man jumped from the ground and into the air and switched his grip on the blade, so he was holding it upside-down.

"Stop running!" Yachiru yelled, before jumping after him. She stabbed forward, but Nagasawa caught this, and, pressed his thumb against the tip of the hilt.

Yachiru felt a sudden jolt run through her body, and she was pushed back, and sent crashing into the ground.

"What the hell-" she growled, then standing up, "was that thing?"

"Interesting, do you agree?" Nagasawa asked, landing back to the ground.

"Yeah, it was," Yachiru scoffed. "Just what was it? Your zanpaktou?"

A smirk. "No, it was not my sword's ability." He held his blade up, blade pointing down. "If you recall, I worked for the Twelfth before I came to this Squad."

She readjusted her stance. "You modified your zanpaktou, didn't you?"

"Correct. Much like Kurostuchi, I took liberties in improving my sword. The upgrade I added allows me to deflect anything that touches my blade, though, I must press the button on the bottom at just the right moment."

_Nagasawa struck the Cero Sincretico, and pressed the button at the hilt, causing the massive blade to ripple before being negated. _

"I can easily defend myself against any attack you throw at me."

"But, just so long as it is at the last moment, correct?" Yachiru grinned. "Then I all I have to do is attack you as fast as I can!"

She rushed forward, and slashed at him, but Nagasawa blocked the attacked and flipped his black right-side up, and pushed her back with enough force the cause her to fly from the roof.

She flipped herself upward, just as Nagasawa appeared and blocked his attack, though this sent her crashing into another roof, and slide down the slope. She jumped up and planted her feet firmly on the end of the roof.

Nagasawa suddenly appeared in front of her, bringing his blade down, but she blocked this strike, and was quickly put on the offensive as Nagasawa began his relentless assaults.

While she was blocking this one strike, he reared his fist back and punched her in the stomach and sent her to the ground.

Her sword fell from her grip.

He raised his sword, ready to finish her off.

A large gash appeared in his shoulder.

Nagasawa cursed and jumped back, and Yachiru jumped back up.

"And how did you do that?" Nagasawa hissed, clutching his bleeding shoulder.

Yachiru grinned as she began to twirl her sword around.

By a cord attached to the end of the hilt.

"When I smaller, my sword would always grab wherever I went. Ikkaku was nice enough to stick some wheels on it, and this string-thing." She stopped the twirling, and caught the blade. "Since I'm a lot bigger, I took off the wheels, but I kept the string because I found out that I could swing my sword around like that. Which I think is cool."

"You little-"

Yachiru leapt forward and swung, sending the blade whipping forward, but Nagasawa blocked it, but Yachiru quickly pulled it back and rushed him, and swung at him.

He raised his blade to stop her own blade, but instead of grinding against metal, it hit the cord.

'_It can't break?'_ he thought as the cord strained against the sword's edge.

Her sword spun around him, about to cut him, when he vanished. She jumped up before it could cut her.

Nagasawa reappeared several meters away. "Such a troublesome child you are."

"I've been told that."

Nagasawa closed his eyes. "I still have work that needs to be done." He pointed his sword at her. "Now, prepare to witness my Shikai."

"So, you're gonna bring that out? Good!" He place her other hand on the blade. "Maul, Yamaneko!" She pulled her hands away; each one now equipped with a sharp set of clawed gauntlets. "Bring it!"

"At least you've prepared yourself for this. Soar," then, to Yachiru's surprise, he threw his blade into the air. "Kaikawashi!" (1)

As the blade spun in midair, it shined brightly, before falling back down to the ground.

To Yachiru's surprise, he didn't catch the blade, but its new form attached itself to his back.

His sword had transformed into a large pair of sharp, mechanical wings.

"That's what your Shikai looks like?" Yachiru asked.

"Yes, this is the next form of my sword."

"It looks stupid."

Nagasawa sighed. "I do not care for your opinion, but, you should learn to fear it." He crossed his arms as he rose into the air. "And you will do so, very quickly."

He then shot at her, but she quickly raised her weapons to block him, but he had dodged into the air, then shot downward and struck her in the back with the razor-edges of the steel feathers.

She quickly made to strike at him, but he blocked this with one wing, then struck at her exposed arm with his other. Yachiru staggered back, before being kicked off the roof.

She was about to crash into the ground below, but she straightened herself up, and landed on her feet. She looked up to see Nagasawa hovering above her.

"Come down here and fight you damn coward!" she yelled out to him, pointing one of her claws at him. "Come down here so I can slice your ass up!"

"Such an uncouth youth you are," he responded. His wing extended, casting a large shadow on her, and he gave a powerful flap.

Next thing Yachiru, it felt as though she had just been attacked by countless blades, as shown by the numerous cuts and gashes all over her body.

"Dammit," she cursed, falling to one knee.

"Now, die." He flapped his wings again, sending down the cutting winds down on her again.

Yachiru rolled to the side, as the roads she was just on exploded as the winds tore them up. She then propelled herself off the street and launched herself up at the captain.

He made to defend himself, but she vanished.

And reappeared behind him.

She struck forward, aiming to take off his head, but his wings quickly raised themselves to defend him from the attack. He then spun around and cut at her, but she deflected the wing and stabbed forward, striking him in the shoulder.

Nagasawa flapped his wings again, sending more razor winds towards her, slicing at her and throwing her into the roof of another building.

"You're are persistent, aren't you?" Nagasawa asked.

"I am," Yachiru said, standing up and wiping the debris and blood from her clothes, the bells in her hair jingling as she did so.

"I grow tired of this, and I have many goals to accomplish, and so little time to do so, I will simply end this here."

His wings glowed brightly.

"Bankai."

(1) Enlightened Eagle.

Please review

Mrfipp


	67. From the Sun

Fipp: Something tells me that the GinRan fans will have a field day in the next few chapters

Though, I myself personally don't think it'll happen, and he'll make a casual attempt at her life.

Squad Eleven Arc: From the Sun

Far away from the battlefield, Ichigo watched on.

"Hey," he said.

"Yo," Ikkaku replied back, as he and Yumichika appeared behind him. "Where's Yachiru?"

Ichigo did not reply, and only stared forward.

"So, she is fighting him, huh?" Yumichika placed a hand on his hip. "And you're not going to help?"

"No. I can't."

"Good. Because if you tried to help, we'd stop ya," Ikkaku said.

They watched for several minutes.

"Is everyone okay?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, everyone's alright," Ikkaku said.

"None of the vice-captains or captains had died," Yumichika said.

"Everyone?"

"Everyone."

Ichigo felt a massive weight lift itself from his chest. It was good to know that all of his comrades, his friends and loved ones, were alive and well.

It was several more moments before Ichigo spoke up again.

"Earlier, when she told me not to butt into her fight," he said, before deciding to start over. "The way she told me to not to get involved, I thought . . ."

Ikkaku chuckled. "Yeah, me and Yumichika have seen that in her too."

"Our little girl has certainly grown up," Yumichika said fondly.

"He'd be proud of her," Ichigo said.

Ikkaku and Yumichika didn't have to say anything to that for Ichigo to know what they thought.

The three looked on as the fight continue.

000

Above her, Nagasawa floated, arms folded across his chest, his metallic wings keeping him afloat, the sun gleaming off the razor-like feathers.

"Prepare yourself child," he said. "As there will be nothing you will be able to do beyond this point."

Yachiru tightened her fists.

"Bankai."

The wings suddenly exploded in a massive golden light.

Yachiru had to shield her eyes due to the intensity of the light.

The light faded as quickly as it came, and Yachiru uncovered her eyes to see the new shape of Nagasawa's weapon.

Hovering above the ground, emitting a shining light, was a massive mechanical eagle, made of a gold metal.

Standing atop its head was Nagasawa.

"Taiyouhishou Kaikawashi." (1)

"Your, Bankai?" Yachiru asked, wide-eyed, as she stared at the giant avian that floated above her.

"Yes," Nagasawa said. "This is my Bankai; the ultimate form of my zanpaktou."

He expected Yachiru to simply throw herself at him, about to throw her life away in a vain attempt to kill him.

Instead, Yachiru lowered her head, so that it faced the ground, and her shoulder began to shake.

Nagasawa raised an eyebrow. "So, from what I can see, it seems that you finally accept your limits. That you cannot best me."

He then heard giggling.

This soon turned into all-out laughter as Yachiru threw her head back and simply let loose.

"This is too good! This is too good!" she yelled out. She had trouble calming down, but she managed to do so. She wiped the tears streaming down her face before finally managed to properly compose herself. Yachiru turned to Nagasawa with a wide smile. "Well, let's get going then!"

"You little," Nagasawa said. "Very well, then I will show you just how powerless you re compared to me." He raised an arm and pointed in Yachiru's direction, closed palm. "Die." He opened his palm.

The eagle opened its beak, and rays of light rained down, heading towards Yachiru.

She quickly jumped out of the way as the beams collided with the ground, instantly searing it, and rolled to the ground, before instantly jumping up into the air and landing onto one of the taller roofs.

Nagasawa instantly dove down, but Yachiru narrowly evaded it as it tore the building down, before swooping back into the air.

Once it reached an admirable height, the Bankai spread its wings.

A cut then appeared on Yachiru's cheek. As soon as her eyes went to looked at the blood, there was then a sharp pain in her shoulder.

There was a metal feather sticking out of where the pain was coming from.

The sky then darkened as countless metal feather, miniature swords, rained down on her.

She quickly spun in the air, leaving them to crash into the ground below, and she landed on another building.

She made to take out the feather in her shoulder, but small spines sprouted from the edges, cutting her hand, and further digging into her flesh.

The feathers that crashed into the ground then flew back into the air and chased after her.

'_They're following me! Crap!'_

She jumped out of the way, as far as she could, and began to swing her weapons, knocking back as many as she could.

This attempt to stop the weapons though, was fruitless, and she soon found herself over whelmed, and surrounded by a tornado of the flying blades.

She was thrown into the air, numerous gashes allover her body, blood pouring out of her, though none of them were too deep.

He could have easily killed her with that, but instead only opted to inflict non-lethal strikes, making sure she would be in pain.

'_Sadist.'_

The eagle dived at her, but Yachiru quickly dived out of the way, the Bankai flying only a foot from her face.

She stabbed forward, digging her blades into the feathers of the eagle, just as it changed its flight pattern and began to fly straight.

Yachiru was not prepared for this sudden change in movement, and chased down onto the base of the tail.

"Damn," she cursed to herself, before she forced herself to get up. She looked up and saw Nagasawa standing at the eagle's head, with his back to her.

Seeing her chance, she rushed forward, making her way up the length of the Bankai's body in no time.

She leaped into the air, her blades mere inches away from the back of his neck-

Nagasawa smirked.

-but more feather suddenly shot from below her, causing more damage to her already badly cut body, and sending her into the air.

She didn't see it, but somehow the eagle managed to quickly flew above her, and swung a wing at her, striking her and sending her down to the ground below, creating a large crater where she crashed.

"I've grown tired of this," Nagasawa said. "While it was fun at first, I've become quickly bored with you."

The eagle began to hover above where Yachiru lay and opened its mouth wide as another beams of light began to form.

"Farewell, Kusajishi scum."

The light fired down, engulfing everything.

(1) Sun Soaring Enlightened Eagle.

Please review

Mrfipp


	68. The Cat's Claws

Fipp: The end draws near.

Squad Eleven Arc: The Cat's Claws

_Yachiru crashed through the rocks, sending rubble flying into the air before she tumbled to the ground._

_She stood up, her body screaming in pain, large gashes pouring blood, and utterly exhausted._

_She was ecstatic. _

_There was a yell and she looked up to see Ikkaku leap down, Ryumon Hozukimaru spinning in his hands._

_She jumped away just as he sunk the blade into the ground, though the resulting shockwave threw her back and into a tree._

_Ikkaku grabbed the blade, pulling it out of the ground and looked to where Yachiru landed, only to see she had vanished._

"_Huh?"_

_Yachiru appeared in front of him and swung her claws down on him, he raised one of the large blade to block the blade, was surprised to see her weapons dig half-way through the blade before slowing to a stop._

_She pulled her other arm back, ready to stab forward when several colorful vines wrapped around her waist and pulled her from Ikkaku._

_Yumichika swung his sword, releasing Yachiru, and having her flying into the air._

_She quickly spun around in the air and landed on the ground on both feet, though she almost buckled under the force from the throw._

_Yachiru looked at the two; while she was in bad shape herself, they weren't in any better conditions themselves._

_Good._

_She wasn't going to fail._

_She was going to fight._

_She was going to fight until her dying breath._

_She was going to give every fight she would ever be in from this day out everything she had._

_And more._

_000_

'_What do I do? My body hurts. A lot.'_

"_Oi! Don't just stand there! Fight until you can't no more!"_

'_Didn't you hear my first statement, Baldy?'_

"_You could just give up beautifully."_

'_Fuck off.'_

_. . ._

"_This guy is stronger then you."_

'_I know.'_

_He chuckled. "Good. Then you can go all out, and really enjoy this fight!"_

'_Why couldn't you two think up of anything like that?'_

"_What are we supposed to do?"_

"_We are just figments of your imagination brought up from the stress of this battle."_

'_Oh yeah, I guess that would make sense.'_

"_Tch, just go out and slice that guy up, Yachiru"_

_Yachiru smiled. "Right!"_

_000 _

The beam of light crashed to the ground, sending out a massive shockwave that rocked the city.

"Farewell, insect," Nagasawa said.

Just then, a large projectile shot out from the rubble below, and right at him. Had he not dodged to the side, the wing of his Bankai would have been taken off.

The large projectile was then pulled down back to the ground by the large and heavy chain that was attached to the end of it.

Something then jumped out of the rubble, and landed on one of the remaining buildings.

Nagasawa's eyes widened. "What the-"

Yachiru smiled. "BIRDY-CHAN!" she yelled. "I WANT YOU TO MEET MY BANKAI!"

Her left arm was coated in platted armor, ending in sharp, foot-long blades that came from the tips of her armored fingers.

But what really caught his attention, was the massive cylindrical item attached to her other arm, with four large spikes at the end that curved inwards, towards each other.

"It's called Reikokubanteki Yamaneko." (1)

"You know a Bankai?" Nagasawa asked.

She smiled sweetly. "Yup! It took a while to learn, but I had Ikkaku and Yumichika come at me with everything they had with the full intention to kill me. That really helped."

Nagasawa folded his arms. "Simply because your sword has gained new power, does not mean you will win this fight."

"Meh," Yachiru shrugged, the plated metal making clanking noises as she did. "All I know is that this will be a good test on what this thing can do. I mean, I didn't even know it could shoot that thing out like it did!"

"You mean, this is the first real test of your Bankai?"

"Yup. Seems that way."

"Then it would appear that your victory is less guaranteed since you are unaware of your Bankai's full capabilities."

"Is that so?" She smirked. "Good, that's how I like it!"

Yachiru then leaped from the roof, and towards Nagasawa, but the man had his Bankai fly higher into the air, and fire down more feathers down on Yachiru.

The girl, seeing the projectiles, quickly dodged out of the way, but was soon followed by them.

She then spun around and made to slice at them with the claws on her left arm. While she managed to cut away most of them, a good number of the, got to her. They cut her and threw her to the ground.

Yachiru pointed the weapon out and fired the large claw. It shot right through the cloud of feather and embedded itself into a wall. Using the chain that attached herself to the weapon, she quickly retracted it, pulling herself to where the weapon was.

As she neared, she quickly gave a hard tug to the chain, freeing the weapon and pulling it out from the wall. She spun around and landed on the wall, before pushing herself off of it.

Up in the air, Nagasawa hovered in the air as Yachiru flew at him. The Bankai then flew into the air, out of Yachiru's reach, but she fired the weapon again.

The Bankai screeched as the claw grabbed hold of its foot, and Yachiru pulled herself at sliced with her clawed hand at it, creating a large gash in the front.

Nagasawa reached down to the Bankai's coat, and pulled out a large feather-like sword, and leaped off of the eagle and flew around it to Yachiru.

She barely managed to block his attack when he attacked from behind.

Yachiru pushed back against Nagasawa, which would have sent him plummeting to the ground, but he simply floated in the air and began to strike at her again.

She would have done a much better job of defending herself against him if she didn't need on arm to keep her attached to the eagle.

She missed a block, and was stabbed in the shoulder, and she tried to strike at him, but he quickly flew far out of reach.

"I have grown tired and annoyed with this battle," he said. "I will end it now."

The Eagle screamed loudly and suddenly shot into the air, causing the weapon to let go of its leg, having her to the ground.

The eagle, as it neared the pinnacle of its arc, it suddenly shone a bright, blinding light, and dove much faster then Yachiru could see.

She tried to block the strike, the eagle snapped at her, taking the large weapon into its beak, causing it to fire the large mechanical claw to the side.

'_This is it,' _Nagasawa thought, concentrating. _'From what I can see of the surrounding areas, my plan seems to fail, and the surviving captains will soon be here to apprehend me. Oh well. I shall simply put the last of my energy into my Bankai, which will result in it taking its most powerful form._

'_When it begins to burn, it will crash into the ground, spread a flame that will instantly cause all reishi particles to instantly incinerate. The effect is similar to a nuclear bomb, and will wipe out all of this realm._

'_It is a shame my plan will not come to full fruition, but it doesn't matter. Without the Soul Society, there will be no shinigami to cleanse Hollows. It may take longer then had I wante, but it doesn't matter; when all the hollows are gone, having had feast upon each other when they run out of human souls to eat, I will have fulfilled my duty as a shinigami._

He chuckled. _'Nothing will be left. Not a single thing.' _He felt the energy buildup readying. _'All will be gone.'_

He was too busy concentrating the energy, that he did not notice that the claw from Yachiru's Bankai turned around in mid air and shot right at him.

It clamped around him, breaking his concentration, before pulling him back down towards Yachiru.

With Nagasawa no longer focusing on his Bankai, the eagle began to become unstable.

Just as it crash to the ground, it exploded into a blinding light.

(1) Ruthless Savage Wildcat.

Please review

Mrfipp


	69. Such Meaningless Things

Fipp: Why does Kubo think longer hair equals more power? I bet he got the idea from the DBZ guy.

Squad Eleven Arc: Such Meaningless Things

The light exploded, as Nagasawa's Bankai crashed into the ground.

Ichigo, Ikkaku and Yumichika had to cover their faces to protect themselves from the light and heat that resulted from that last strike.

When they unshielded themselves after the light had faded, only to see the entire section of the city had be reduced to nothing but a large scorch mark on the land.

"Yachiru!" Ichigo called.

"You think she's okay?" Yumichika asked.

"I don't know," Ikkaku said. "That was one big blast."

"We better find her." Ichigo jumped forward and vanished into the air. Ikkaku and Yumichika followed shortly.

000

Yachiru felt as though she was on fire.

Which was technically true, as she just experienced a tiny supernova.

She tried to get up, and managed to do this, though there was still pain.

She felt much lighter though.

'_My Bankai's gone.' _That was bad since she didn't dismiss it herself. That meant she was close to dying.

'_Crap.'_

"Hey!" she called. It hurt to talk. "Birdy-chan! Where are you? Are you dead?"

"I'm far from dead."

Yachiru looked around to see Nagasawa push himself out from beneath burned rocks.

Like her, his Bankai was also gone.

He was also missing an arm, courtesy of her Bankai's last act before it dissolved. Other then that, it looked like he, like herself, could easily drop dead any moment.

"Looks like we are both still alive," Nagasawa grimly said.

"Looks like it."

"It matters not though. What happens here will make no difference in anyway whatsoever."

Yachiru narrowed her eyes.

"My plans have failed. The cycle will continue, and many will die pointless deaths."

"Like what you had planned was any better."

A dark chuckle. "It doesn't matter. Everything dies one way or another. Be it by my own plans, or by a Hollow's jaws, everything ends." He used his remaining arm and pointed his sword at Yachiru. "Now come, and see if you can avenge Zaraki Kenpachi."

Yachiru was silent for several moments, before shrugging. "That's not why I'm fighting."

A moment of surprise. "You're not?"

"Nope."

"Did you hear me speak of my role in his death?"

"Yeah. I did."

"Then why not take revenge?"

"Ken-chan always though revenge was stupid," Yachiru said strongly. "If you live, you live. If you die, you die. That is all." She looked away. "Sure, when he died, I was sad, frightened and I cried. But . . ." She looked back to Nagasawa. "I came to realize that I can't be held up by it."

"If you are not here for revenge, then what is it you desire?"

Yachiru gave a smile and placed her sword on her shoulder. "Simple; You're strong. I want to fight you. Nothing more or less than that."

"I would like to say that I'm surprised, but I am not." He prepared himself. "Die now."

"Hn," Yachiru grinned.

Both ran forward.

000

_Long ago, the souls of the dead rested on Earth, roaming around the plains, at peace amongst themselves until they could be reincarnated._

_Until one day someone died with regret in their heart._

_This formed the first Hollow._

_Over time, more people began to die with negative emotions, and more Hollows were created._

_Their presences alone caused a stigma that caused souls who were on the Earth too long to also turn into Hollows._

_The Hollow began to eat the souls, and each other, creating more Hollows, and they became more powerful._

_The Soul King, seeing the horrors down on Earth, created a place where the souls could be sent until they could be reincarnated._

_This place was called the Soul Society._

_He then gave the souls there the power to send other there, as well as destroy the Hollows, freeing the souls they consumed._

_They were called the Shinigami._

_It was supposed to be perfect._

_It was not. It was far from perfect._

_Hollows devoured countless souls, each other, and Shinigami, and became more powerful, until only a select few Shinigami could even have a hope of standing against them._

_Later, the Hollows found a way into Soul Society, where they began to feast on the souls there._

_Things only became worst for the Shinigami when the Hollows found a realm to call their own, which allowed them to grow more powerful with time._

_The Shinigami kill the Hollows, and bring the souls to Soul Society._

_The Hollows eat Shinigami and other souls._

_It had been like this for countless millennium, and eventually became accepted as how things were._

_People had always tried to think of ways to make things better, so that less people would die._

_Unacceptable._

_They always tried to find a way to cause less deaths, but never a way break the cycle._

_As long as Hollows exist, they will eat souls._

_As long as souls exist, there will be Hollows._

_This cycle cannot be broken. There is nothing that can be done to stop this._

_Everything the Shinigami have worked for mean nothing. _

_Nothing at all._

_There is no bright future to look forward to._

_Everything is destroyed. Everyone dies._

_That is the absolute truth to the worlds._

_Death and destruction._

_000_

Both swords swung.

Both felt it as the steel sliced though their flesh and bones.

Both were in pain.

Nagasawa's sword ripped though several of Yachiru's organs.

Yachiru's sword ripped trough more important organs.

With one last cough of blood, Nagasawa collapsed to the ground.

Yachiru stood alone.

"Yachiru!"

She turned around to see Ichigo, Ikkaku, and Yumichika appear.

"Hey guys!" she waved happily to them.

Her wounds then exploded, and she collapsed to the ground.

Please review

Mrfipp


	70. The Twelfth Kenpachi

Fipp: And thus, is the final chapter of this arc, but worry. There are still a couple more one shots after this.

The Twelfth Kenpachi

"So, how are you guys feeling?" asked Ichigo, who was walking down the hall with Rukia, Ishida, Sado, and Inoue.

"I'm fine," Rukia responded. "I'm just glad that things didn't get even more worst then they were."

"Nel-san and I were able to get everyone better," Inoue said. "Though, it looked like Yachiru-chan was in trouble for a minute." She put a finger to her chin and looked up with a curious expression. "Though, for some reason, she seemed real content when we were healing her. Almost happy."

"She had fought a trying battle," Ishida said, pushing up his glasses. "That is not to be unexpected."

". . ." said Chad. Even though he did not say anything, he agreed.

"I'm just glad that's all behind us." Ichigo opened the large door to let them through.

He took one last look down the hallway, before walking into the Meeting Hall.

000

Hitsugaya looked down the lines of captains and vice-captains.

To his right stood Sasakibe, Soifon, Omaeda, Neliel, Inoue, Byakuya, Senna, Renji, Nanao, Matsumoto, Mosqueda, Mayuri and Nemu.

To his left stood Kira, Ishida, Ichigo, Hinamori, Komamura, Iba, Hisagi, Sado, Grimmjow and Rukia.

He cleared his throat, ceasing everyone out of their own conversations with each other, and pulling their focus towards himself.

"As everyone here knows, due to certain, _occurrences, _we are currently short one captain. The circumstances for this captain's absence is a direct result of the occurrences, which he caused in the first place.

"We are now in need to replace him."

There was some mutters amongst his listeners.

He coughed. They silenced.

"In order to become a captain, the candidate must accomplish one of three tasks; A standard proficiency test with three captains, including myself, as witnesses. The second is to be recommended by six existing captains, and approved by three others, or to defeat a current captain in battle, with two-hundred members of that squad as witnesses. While Bankai is normally a requirement, this last option allows it be bypassed.

"In an strange twists of events, a captain was defeated, but there were only two witnesses, and while there are captain in support, it is not enough." He shrugged to himself. "After much thought, despite the fact that none of the requirements were fully made, I have decided that in light of these action that-"

Suddenly to doors slammed open.

"I think you did that too early, yo."

"Are you sure? It kinda looked like I did that just in time."

"I think he's correct. One must always make an elegant first impression."

"Really? Damn. Hey! Can we start this over? I messed up on my entrance! So if we could take it from the top I would-"

"Dammit Kusajishi!" Hitsugaya growled.

"Huh?" Yachiru asked, her haori slipping off her shoulder. Like Kenpachi, she took it off the captain she killed, though she probably needed it to get hemmed.

"Just stand in your spot before I loose my temper."

"Yeah, yeah."

Yachiru then walked to her spot, where the Captain of Squad Eleven would stand.

000

Yachiru stood atop one of the remains roofs of Squad Eleven, the wind lifting the ends of her haori, and her hair. The bells braided into the ends lightly jingling.

Squad Eleven. Her squad.

'_That was awesome! Way to kill that bastard!' _Ikkaku has said, helping her up from where she had fallen.

'_It was a beautifully elegant way to win, if a bit crude,'_ Yumichika had said as they healed her serious wounds.

'_You did well, Yachiru,' _Ichigo said, as she was presented with Nagasawa's haori. It was torn, with numerous rips in it, all from their battle, with a light-purple inner lining.

It also kept slipping off her shoulders, and the tail end kept trailing on the ground behind her as she walked, and was several sizes too large.

Maybe she could get Pencil-kun to fix it when he had the chance (1). He was good at that kind of stuff, though if she found one of those blue cross things, she'd have to kill him.

"Yo! Taichou!" She turned around to see Ikkaku and Yumichika walk up to her.

"Hey guys!" she waved to them. "So, how's the new ranks?"

"Meh," Ikkaku shrugged. He never really cared about ranks in the first place. Actually, he though the badge wrapped around his arm was too tight (2).

"It's just marvelous!" Yumichika said, his eyes sparkling. The kanji for three, after all, was one of the most beautiful ones there were.

She smiled, and turned around again. "Hey, guys?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna go kill some Hollows?"

Their swords were out of their scabbards before she even finished.

"Then let's go."

So they went. They searched for Hollows to fight, and they did, and they fought to their hearts contents.

Somewhere, in one of the deeper regions of hell (3), someone laughed with them, as he too cut down powerful demons.

Everyone laughed.

Except the things they were fighting.

Those guys were screaming because they were getting cut in half.

(1) Or to be more accurate, when she decided to drop it on his lap, and give him an unreasonable amount of time to hem it in.

(2) "Maybe you should wear it on your head? You know, since there's plenty of space to put things there?" Yachiru had suggested. This had turned Ikkaku's temper for the worst.

(3) Seriously, were else? Heaven would be too boring, as it is socially, ethically, morally and legally, unacceptable to slice people in half with swords just for shits and giggles.


	71. A Promise Kept

Drabble: A Promise Kept

It was an impossible world to map.

Everything looked the same. The exact same. It was also infinitely large, which only made things more difficult.

"Yo, Rukia."

Rukia turned around to see Ichigo walked up the sand dune.

"Hey," she said, turning her gaze back to the limitless panorama of the same thing around them.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head, unsure of exactly what to say. He was always one to try and inspire hope in his comrades, but . . .

"Hey, um, Rukia . . ."

"I know what you're going to say."

"Really?"

"There's no way to find one certain area in Hueco Mundo, due to the constantly shifting sands. Even people like Grimmjow, and Nel, who have spent a combined total of over five-hundred years here, have no way of properly navigating.

"The only actual landmark in this world is Aizen's palace, Las Noches, and even that's fallen away to the elements and the Hollows, leaving only ruins. In another hundred years, give or take a decade, and that'll be nothing but stones in the sands."

"What this going to mean for you? Do you think it's hopeless?"

Rukia looked up to the moon. "Sort of."

"That there's no point?"

"That thought crept into my mind several times."

"That even after one-hundred years, we could just be chasing rainbows?

"I know."

"Yet you continue?"

Rukia turned around to face him. "Ichigo. I made a promise. That is something that I will do everything in my power to make sure that it's kept." She paused. "Or, until I discover that there is no longer anyone to keep a promise too."

Ichigo gave a soft smile. "Then let's go."

Rukia nodded.

000

Time was irrelevant after a certain point of it had passed.

Soon, one would not be able to tell the difference between the passing days, and the passing years.

This applied even more so in a place where everything looked the same all the time.

Fight. Survive. Fight. Survive. Fight. Survive. Fight. Survive. Fight. Survive. Fight. Survive.

That was life. There was nothing more, nor nothing less to it.

He briefly wondered how long it had been since that girl, and her friends, appeared down here.

How long since it had been since he had made sure they escaped so they could go save their friend?

How long had it been since she promised to come back?

He never really gave it much thought. If they saved their friend, and somehow managed to find their way back, he didn't expect to live through the mass of monsters that had trapped them.

But he did. He managed to kill them all, and managed to fight and live for another day.

There was a roar behind him.

He spun around and swung.

000

"Hey, Rukia!" Ichigo called. "It's getting late. I think we should call it a day."

Rukia looked at the clock on her soul pager. It was true; they had been looking for over twelve hours.

Hitsugaya-soutaichou was generous enough to allow them to undergo these searches when they could (which was about a day a month), but they had to be home soon.

She lowered her head. "Okay, just ten more minutes. Please?"

Ichigo sighed. "Fine." He placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair (which annoyed her), to annoy her. "Better make use of the time we can.

The ground below them exploded.

"What the hell was that?" Ichigo and Rukia appeared in the air a safe distance away from the blast.

"I think it was a cero," said Rukia, as the sand fell back to the ground.

"You're right. I can feel the reiatsu of it." He looked down. "There must be one hell of a fight going on down there."

"There must be . . ." Rukia looked down to the sand. She gasped.

"What's wrong?"

Rukia didn't answer. She only dived downward, crashing through the sand before it could settle back into place.

"Dammit Rukia!"

He then gave chase.

000

Blood poured from the large gash in his side. He was surprised that he had managed to dodge that last strike, giving on how quick it was.

Using a cero to distract him while striking him from the back. Clever.

The Hollow loomed over him. It was large, but not too large. It was likely beginning its evolution to a Vasto Lorde.

It raised it's arm, ready to strike him down.

But the ground below it began to glow blue, and it was then engulfed in a pillar of ice that reached up to the sky.

"What the-?"

The pillar shattered, the Hollow roaring in rage.

"Bankai!"

Suddenly, a blur of darkness attacked the Hollow from behind, crashing it into the distance.

The air around him began to pleasantly cool down.

"It's good to see you again, Ashido."

Ashido looked up to see Rukia standing over him.

"I told you I'd come back."

Ashido closed his eyes, allowing himself to rest in god knows how long.


	72. Visiting

Fipp: This one was also suggested, but I can't remember from who. Also the last planned chapter.

Also, I'm trying to work on a project for 'Dissidia: Final Fantasy', and I need some help as I am not very tech savvy. Can someone please help me locate a program that allows me to record video files (MP4s?), but also merge them with MP3s?

And maybe somewhere where I can download the game's cutscenes, since I can't seem to get my hands on for a UBS to connect my PSP to my laptop.

Any help would be appreciated.

Drabble: Visiting

In the many years after the Winter War, relations between Soul Society and the Vaizards had become better. Unofficially, they were liaisons to Soul Society, giving assistance when needed, though they did not often visit.

Unless there was some sort of affair that involved free booze and food.

You could count on them to show up like locust to the freshly grown crops to devour what they could and to annoy the people in charge of their former squads.

000

Kira sulked in a corner, having become excluded from the conversation.

"Really?" Rose asked Ishida. "I never thought about that before."

"I have always seen it as a necessity to battle," Ishida said. "There are many variables that could happen in battle, so one must be prepared at all costs." He pushed his glasses up. "That is why I always carry spare capes on me."

Rose shrugged and smiled. "Of course! It's so obvious! A person cannot demonstrate the same flair if their clothes are torn and ruined." He sighed. "Love never really seems to appreciate that sort of art."

"No one does," Ishida said in sympathy.

Then again, maybe he didn't _want_ to be part of the conversation.

000

"Hi there Ichigo!" Shinji greeted as he walked down the hallway.

"Dammit," Ichigo said to himself.

"Hello there Hirako-san," Hinamori politely greeted. "It's nice to see you around."

"Nice to see you around too Hinamori-chan!" He turned to Ichigo. "You don't seem too glad to see me."

"Not really."

"Why not? Don't we always have fun?"

"No." While it was true that Ichigo did hold a large amount of respect for Shinji, rarely did they meet each other without Ichigo sustaining some sort of injury. "And last time you were here, my office went missing."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "How can you misplace an office?" He shook his head. "I'm surprised that you don't know your way around your own barracks."

"I didn't get lost! You made a giant hole in my wall, and everything ended up outside like it blew up!"

"I always did think that my office needed a skylight, or a larger window." Shinji ignored his replacement's replacement. "Shame I never got around to installing it."

"Don't ignore me you bastard!"

Meanwhile, Hinamori, having become use to the usual company Ichigo kept, ignored them both and read a book that she kept on her person at all times so she could have something to keep herself occupied while he met with his friends.

"And I never found my desk!"

"Not my problem."

"Like hell it is!

000

Love looked down at the pamphlet (1), and considered his options.

"And what sort of benefits do I get for joining the Shinigami Men's Association?" he asked Iba.

"I'm glad you asked!" Iba boasted. "You get to be manly!"

This perked Love' interest. "Is that so?"

"Yes! You also get a pair of sunglasses!"

"But I already have-"

"But these are better."

"Really?" He looked to Iba. "And what is the exclusiveness to this?"

Iba rubbed his chin and grinned. "Well, any man can join, but we have strict entrance requirements. So despite the fact that people always try to become members, they rarely do."

Komamura walked in, and couldn't help but overhear. "But I thought that you were desperate for members."

"Desperate for _good _members!" Iba quickly said.

"But the last people who joined were Dondochakka and Pesche."

". . ." '_Think Iba think!' _"What about Mosqueda and Sado! They're members!

"I think they joined out of pity alone."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think this is for me." Love stood up and walked away.

Iba began to sob, now loosing what would have been a very important person to add to their numbers.

000

"Things look very clean and organized around here," said Lisa, looking around the office that she once worked in. "It would seem that Kyoraku was able in selecting a successor."

"He was," Nanao said. "Abarai-Taichou has done a good job as a captain."

"Speaking of Kyoraku, how has he been recently."

Nanao lowered her head and glared at the floor. "He's tried to move into a retirement home."

"But he's not _that _old!"

"You see, one of the nurses-"

"That's all I need to know."

"Yo!" Renji walked through the door.

"I remember you," Lisa said to Renji. "I thought you died."

"No, that wasn't me." Renji lowered his head.

"Abarai-Taichou," Nanao said. "Were you able to finish those reports I left for you?"

"Well," Renji scratched the back of his neck. "I was about to do them, but Ichigo and Ikkaku came in, and they said something about breaking down walls or something-"

"But those are very important reports." Nanao tipped her glasses, casting a glare over the glass.

Renji squeaked. "Yes Ma'am!" Renji ran to his desk.

"I tried similar tactics during my terms," Lisa said.

"So did I before," Nanao added.

"But they never worked on that man." They both sighed.

At his desk, Renji scribbled furiously, trying to make up three days of work in ten minutes.

000

"Yeah!" Mashiro cheered, running around the office. "I've missed this place!" She stopped. "Though, it looks different, but I can't put my finger on it."

She thought about this for a moment.

"I know!" She then rushed over the to desk that once belonged to her (but was now Sado's) and began to rummage through the drawers.

"Can I help you?" asked Sado, who was trying to write up a report.

"Noooooo," Mashiro said, pulling out a drawer and emptying its contents on the desk.

". . ."

She continued for several more minutes until his entire desk had been turned over.

". . ."

She then began to cry.

". . ."

"It's not fair!" she cried. "Where's by rubber duck! I always kept a cute rubber duck in my drawer but now it's gone!" She wailed louder.

". . ."

"Dammit," Kensei grumbled from the other side of the room. "Why does she have to be such a damn crybaby?" He downed the rest of the sake bottle. "I just know I'm going to have to cheer her up."

"You're not exactly the best at that," Hisagi grimly said, remembering the first time they met.

That face _still_ gave him nightmares.

000

Hiyori walked down the hall, eating one of the many dangos she had taken, but stopped in her tracks and felt her appetite left.

"Oh crap! You again!" she complained. "And I was having a good day too."

"And my day has bettered?" asked Mayuri, who was walking down the hall with Nemu. "We both suffer from this."

"I see you've gotten even more hideous since we last met."

"And I see no changes in you. I find that curious as one would expect at least _some _growth in your height."

"_What was that you bastard?"_

"Shall I dispose of her Mayuri-sama?" Nemu asked.

"No, no," Mayuri answered nonchalantly. "There's no need to waste either of our time with such a _small and insignificant _matter."

"_I'll kill you!"_

"Just ignore it Nemu."

"_ASSHOLES!"_

000

Hachigen took a sip of his tea.

He was glad that there was no one in the current Kido Corps he was familiar with, so he could avoid the trouble his fellow Vaizards got into.

(1) Which seemed to be made out of cheap material.

Please review

Mrfipp


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